When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy
by Alyson May
Summary: Harry Potter is playing Quidditch when he collides with who else but Maximum Ride. What happens when a mutant freak learns a whole new meaning to the word weird? Possible pairings later! Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter One**

POV Max

Nothing makes life more enjoyable than when the world is safe and we can enjoy life the way it was meant to be enjoyed. Need an example? Exploring London mutant-style is one way! Who needs a tour guide when you've got wings? We can cover twice the distance and see twice as much!

We'd been flying for two hours, when it all got very eerie. Suddenly all I saw below me was trees. The people were gone…

I looked ahead of me using my bird eyes. I could see a castle, far off in the distance. "Let's land," I said. We dove downward and landed in a forest. "Alright," I said, "It's a castle. A _huge_ one. Most likely another branch of Itex. I'm gonna check it out for myself. You guys wait here."

Fang looked about ready to say something to stop me, but I didn't give him the chance. Without another word, I got a running start and took to the air.

The castle became larger and larger as I flew toward it. I landed on top of it. No one was in the castle. Not many people, at least. I looked around and saw a stadium to the side. They looked like they were having some kind of celebration or sporting event. Could it be like the one we'd seen – and I'd been in – at the castle in Germany? Gulping down fear, I took off again and headed toward the stadium.

I was high over the crowd, as to avoid being seen. I was just turning back when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was a little, round, golden ball. With wings. Was it a hidden camera? I grabbed it and examined it. No…definitely not a camera. It was too solid…and just didn't look like one. A bomb, maybe? With this thought I let go of it and watched it hover by my face. It lingered for only a second, then sped downward again.

Something was approaching me. I began to speed off, but I collided with someone.

I forgot to flap for a second and dropped several feet. Whatever I crashed into had been spinning downward, but was now coming back up.

It was a boy…on a broomstick…wait a minute…that's scientifically impossible…but I guess I was scientifically impossible, too, so who was I to say that's not possible?

In a few minutes, the boy was level with me. He spoke, and at first I didn't understand for the wind in my ears. "What?" I said.

"Who are you?" he asked. His voice had a heavy English accent, but he didn't sound dangerous.

"No one important," I answered.

Below I heard cheers and screams of protest. "Draco Malfoy has caught the snitch! Slytherin wins by a landslide!" The boy's shoulders dropped, like he was disappointed.

"Can you tell me your name?" the boy asked.

I stared him in the face. Was he joking? I snickered, "No." I turned and sped towards the forest. Looking back, I saw the boy turn and head back to the ground. Something deep down told me I hadn't seen the last of him.

I landed beside a little hut just outside the forest. There was a chicken cooking over the fire outside and I took it. I ate it as I ran into the forest.

I stopped and climbed into a tree a ways in. The moon sun was high over the mountains as I rested on a tree branch. Ah…rest…I could almost sleep here…the forest was quiet…

It must've been fifteen minutes later when I heard voices coming from a long way off. It was a man's voice speaking first. "I just don't know what kind of creature would take my chicken," the voice said. It was rough and also had a British accent, "Most everything in the Forbidden Forest _stays _in the Forbidden Forest."

I knew I should take to the sky, but I would get a sucky takeoff through the trees and I couldn't go to the ground. They were getting close enough to see me if I went down.

"It's not an animal we're looking for, Hagrid," a boy's voice said, "It's a girl. I saw her in the sky during the Quidditch match." I recognized the boy's voice as the one I'd seen in the sky.

"And you say she had wings, Harry?" a girl's voice asked.

"Yeah," the boy answered.

"Wings? Harry, are you sure?" a different boy's voice said.

"I'm positive," the first boy said.

My wings were crunched beneath me and it hurt. I moved slightly, making more noise than I'd anticipated. "Over there!" the first boy said.

I moved again. This time, the branch moved beneath me and I fell off it. "Oof!" I said as I fell. I realized I said it awfully loud.

The group was running, now, to find me. A minute later, they appeared before me.

I examined them. I could take the girl or either of the boys easily. The man…maybe not. He was at least six foot five, if not taller. But I could outrun him without even going top speed.

"That's her!" the boy from the broomstick said, pointing at me.

"Harry, she's just a girl. She doesn't have wings," the girl said.

The boy – Harry – stared at me. "Yes, she does," he said defiantly, "I know she does."

"Can you speak?" the red-haired boy asked. He walked toward me and stuck out a hand, as if to help me up.

I swatted it away and got up on my own. "Of course I can speak, idiot!" I snapped, "And I don't need your help!"

"Have you got wings?" the red-haired boy asked.

There was no use hiding it. I slowly extended my wings. Stretching them out felt good. I'd kept them in so tight in the tree, I didn't think they'd _ever_ loosen up. I glanced at the clearing above me. An escape. Perfect.

"Bloody hell," the redhead said. He stared at my wings like they were a big honkin' piece of chocolate.

"What's your name?" the girl asked. She was also staring at my wings wistfully.

I looked at them, my eyes narrowing. They weren't Erasers. It seemed like this was a regular boarding school. They even had school uniforms that were much cuter than the ones I'd worn to school in Virginia. After a long pause, I said, "Max."

"I'm Harry," Harry said, "This is Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid."

I nodded, on my guard and ready to attack at any moment.

"How old are you?" Harry asked.

"Fourteen," I answered.

"Us, too," Hermione said, nodding.

"What school do you go to?" Ron asked.

"Um…I'm homeschooled," I lied. Well…not completely a lie. I'd gotten all my schooling – as little as there was – at home.

"Where did you get your wings?" Hagrid asked. Ron, Harry and Hermione looked at me with anticipation in their eyes.

These questions were worrying me. Sure they weren't Erasers and weren't working for the School or Itex, but they could still hurt me. Knowledge itself was hurtful. And I didn't want to share too much knowledge with these people.

I looked up to see Ari **((A/N: In this story he's not dead and has not had the attitude adjustment that he gets in STWAOES)) **standing over me. He was transformed into an Eraser and had his angry eyes on. "Hey, birdie. Found some new friends?" he asked.

"What is that thing?" I heard Hermione say, and at the same time, I heard Ron repeat, "Bloody hell!"

I swung my feet under his legs and he crashed to the ground. He was up in an instant and the fight began.

I socked Ari in the face and he stopped for only a second. He slashed me with his claws across one cheek just as I kicked his chest, forcing him back several feet. He came at me again with more strength than I'd anticipated. He punched me rapidly, over and over, until I was too weak to even defend myself. I backed away to dodge him, and back right into a tree.

"Nowhere to run, bird girl!" he sneered. He took a bite out of my arm, but I barely flinched.

I used every bit of my strength to punch him one last time, and this seemed to anger him. He brought a gun out of his jacket and aimed it at my left arm and shot, aiming perfectly. He shot me three more times after that: one on my right arm, one on my left leg and one on my right leg. I crumpled to the ground, pain and blood spewing out of each bullethole.

From then on, I wasn't sure what was real and what was just my imagining. I saw Harry go behind Ari and remember thinking _'What the hell? Doesn't he know that you typically stay away from the scary wolf-thing attacking an innocent bird-girl?'_ Well, apparently not. He took Ari by the shoulders and pulled him back. Ron came and together they held Ari.

Now this is the part I'm _sure _I imagined. I think I saw Hermione pull out a stick…no…a wand? Anyway, she pulled out a wand and pointed it at Ari and shouted, _"Wingardium Leviosa!"_

'_Alrighty then,' _I thought, _'This must be a school for the mentally challenged or something…'_ But to my surprise, Ari shot into the air. With the flick of her wrist, Hermione sent Ari out into the woods.

And then…I passed out…

**So, there's the first chapter to my first crossover story. I hope you liked it! More will be out soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**When a Bird Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter Two**

"Madam Pomfrey, we've got to go see her!" I heard Hermione say.

"No, Miss Granger, she's not well enough yet. She's not even awake. Let the poor girl be." That was an old woman's voice who I could only assume was Madam Pomfrey.

I opened my eyes and tried to sit up, but as soon as I moved my arms, pain shot up both of them.

"See, look! She's up now!" Ron said.

"Fine, fine," Madam Pomfrey answered, "But only for a little while. And what did she say her surname was?"

"She didn't," Harry said, "That's one of the things we've got to find out."

I watched them walk over and take seats around me. At first they just stared, then finally Hermione said, "What was that?"

"It's an Eraser," I answered, "Half wolf, half human. Completely bloodthirsty and out to kill me."

"Why you?" Ron asked.

"Why do you think?!" I snapped, "Because I have…" My voice trailed off. After a long pause, I whispered, "Because I have wings."

"They're the people who gave you the wings, aren't they?" Harry said.

I nodded. Another long pause. Finally I said, "How long until I'm outta here?"

"A while," Harry answered, "Madam Pomfrey had a fit trying to find a potion that cures bulletshots."

"Potion," I laughed, "You mean medicine, right?" Ron gave the others a funny look, while Harry sent Hermione a look and said, "She doesn't know."

"What don't I know?" I said, irritated.

"Um…" Ron said.

"Well…" Hermione said.

"I'm not sure we can tell you," Harry said.

Just then, an old man with a long white beard came in. Hermione nudged Harry and said, "Dumbledore."

"Hello, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger," the old man said in a weak voice, "May I possibly speak to Miss…?"

"Ride," I said, wondering to myself why I didn't lie.

"May I speak to Miss Ride alone for a moment, please?" the man said.

"Yes, Headmaster," they said and they walked out.

The headmaster turned to me and said, "I am Albus Dumbledore. I am the headmaster of this school. I assume Harry, Ron and Hermione told you all about Hogwarts by now?"

"No," I said, feeling _very_ lost.

"Ah, I see," Dumbledore said, "They probably weren't sure if it was OK to tell you. I think that you have the right to know. Did you see anything…unusual when Hermione saved you?"

"Besides the wolf-man?" I said sarcastically.

I expected to see Dumbledore do something to show his annoyance at my sarcasm. However, he chuckled and said, "Yes. Besides the wolf-man."

"I think I imagined it," I told him, "but I saw Hermione pull out a wand, point it at Ari, and shout _wingardium leviosa_. And then Ari flew into the air. But I must've imagined it. I was really close to fainting from blood loss."

Dumbledore shook his head slowly and said, "This is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. What you saw was not your imagination. Hermione defeated that Eraser – Ari, did you call him? – using magic."

"You know about Erasers?" I said, astonished.

"Yes," Dumbledore said, "Terrible creatures. And Harry tells me that one seemed to know you?"

I was about to respond, but I heard voices coming from outside the closed door. They were muffled, so I couldn't hear them. I desperately wished Iggy were here. He would have been able to hear what was being said.

The door burst open and the man from the forest burst in. Not Ari, the other one.

"Dumbledore, Dumbledore, don't erase her memory, sir!" he panted, "It wasn't her fault! Harry and Hermione knew it was the only way to save her from that thing!"

Memory erased? What? I didn't want my memory erased! Then I'd never see my flock ever again!

"Hagrid!" Dumbledore interrupted, "She will not have her memory erased. Not now." He turned to me, "She knows that this is a secret, don't you Miss Ride?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"Hagrid, where are Harry, Hermione and Ron?" Dumbledore asked Hagrid.

"Uh…well…I…they're…" Hagrid stuttered.

"Right outside the door, are they?" Dumbledore chuckled. Hagrid nodded and Dumbledore continued, "They may come in now." He raised his voice so it could be heard outside the door. Then Dumbledore got up and left, but Hagrid stayed behind.

Harry, Hermione and Ron came in, followed by several other kids in robes I assumed were their classmates.

"What did Dumbledore say?" Hermione asked.

"He told me about Hogwarts," I answered, eyeing the other students carefully. I lowered my voice to a whisper and then asked Harry, "You didn't tell them, did you?"

"No," Harry answered.

"Are you really a Muggle?" one asked.

"Blimey, you must be the first Muggle ever to set foot in Hogwarts!" another said.

"That's not true. Filch is a Squib," one said.

"Yes, but that a Squib, not a Muggle," someone else said.

They continued questioning me. I turned back to the three I did know and said, "What's a Muggle?"

"Non-magic folk," Ron answered.

"Well, she's not really a Muggle," Hagrid said, obviously not aware that I was trying to keep that I had wings quiet. I shook my head quickly to signal for him to shut up, but he didn't notice and continued, "I mean, with those wings, you may not have magic in you, but you certainly don't count as an average Muggle!" Every single one of the other students' eyes grew big and one whispered, "Wings?!"

I rolled my eyes and pulled Hagrid in so I could speak to him quietly. "I was kinda trying to keep that a secret," I told him.

"Oh…" Hagrid said, "Whoops."

**OK, I'm gonna clear a few things up real quick, ookie?**

**1. This takes place in Year 4, and I will do my best to not spoil anything, but I'm guessing most people reading this have read the books/seen the movies up until this point.**

**2. Everyone's saying it'd be better if the flock was in it. They WILL be. Have a little patience, please. Max will be on her own for a couple days, but, seriously, how long could she go without her flock?**

**3. I have one person ask why Max and the flock could see the castle. We're just gonna overlook that little piece of Hogwarts history, 'kay? We'll just pretend that since the flock isn't really **_**human**_**, they don't count as Muggles. And if you read what Hagrid says in the third to the last paragraph, that kinda sums up what I'm saying.**

**Alrighty, keep those reviews rollin! And if I didn't explain anything correctly, tell me and I'll give an explanation in an authors note. Oh, and I read Twilight and New Moon, and **_**MY GOD**_** they were good!!!!! I bought Eclipse at Target today (God, I love Target) and I'll start reading it tonite. Byebyes for now! –Aly May**


	3. Chapter 3

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter Three**

"You've got wings?!" one boy said.

"Let's see them, then!" said another boy.

"Hey!" I nearly shouted, just trying to get their attention, "I don't have the strength to sit up right now, let alone unfurl my wings, so maybe I'll show them to you some other time. Maybe."

Madam Pomfrey came back, holding a glass with something colored green that was bubbling and producing smoke. "I've finally found it!" she said, "This will dissolve the bullet and heal the wounds."

She handed me the glass and I wrinkled up my nose in disgust. Now, usually I'm against drinking strange glasses of things I have no idea what they are, but in this case, my arm hurt and I knew the sooner I got better, the sooner I could find my flock and get the H-E-double hockey sticks outta here. So, I took the goblet and chugged it down, trying my best to not focus on the taste, which, by the way, could've defeated dog poo in a gross taste contest.

"Now, this may make you a little drowsy, so be…" Madam Pomfrey said. But that was the last thing I heard. It didn't just make me a little drowsy. _Valium_ makes you a little drowsy. Bubbling-and-Smoking-Green-Potion makes you fall asleep before the nurse gets her sentence out.

……………………………………………………………………………

I blinked my eyes open some time later. Madam Pomfrey came over and said, "Harry, Ron and Hermione stopped by. They wanted to see if you were awake."

"Well, I am," I said. I tried to sit up, and when I did, there was absolutely no pain in either of my arms. The cuts were gone. There wasn't even a scar.

"They wanted you to go to dinner with them," Madam Pomfrey continued, "If you're feeling well, you can go."

"I feel fine!" I told her, hopping out of bed. I ran to the door, then stopped and turned, "Um…where is it?"

Madam Pomfrey chuckled, "I'll take you there."

She led me through a ton of hallways and up several staircases. Finally, we reached the dining hall. I stopped in the doorway, scanning the sea of heads for Harry's, Ron's or Hermione's. Everyone in the hall seemed to have noticed that I was there. Everyone stopped talking and turned their heads to look at me.

Harry stood up and waved me over to sit with him. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I walked over to join him. I sat down, and the conversations continued in hushed tones.

"Max, this is Neville, and Ron's older brothers, Fred and George," Harry said.

A plate appeared before me and I gawked at it awkwardly. This was weird. For once, I was in a school where I wasn't the freak. They were all in relatively the same boat as I was. Maybe even a freakier boat. However they didn't grow up in a dog crate, so I've probably got the seat in USS Freak before they do.

Ron seemed to notice I wasn't eating anything, and, through a mouthful of chicken, said, "Well, go on, then. Eat!"

I took a drumstick, two scoops of mashed potatoes and one scoop of corn. I didn't want to seem like a pig! But when I took the first bite of corn, I started eating like crazy, refilling my plate three times before Neville had finished his first helping. It was weird. Never before had I had this much food to eat. I felt a pang of guilt that I was in here, eating all I could, when my flock was out there, scavenging for food.

That pang of guilt only lasted until the end of Helping Number Four. After filling my plate up a fifth time, I began to slow down and savor my food.

"So, Max," one of Ron's older brothers said (I had no idea which was which), "Are you going to the Quidditch match tomorrow?"

I swallowed my mashed potatoes and asked, "What's Quidditch?"

Both twins choked on their food in surprise. Ron gave me a confused look. Neville whispered, "She doesn't know what Quidditch is!" to the person next to him.

"It's our sport," Harry answered. He began to explain the game. After the lengthy explanation I answered Ron's brother's question, "Sure, I'll go to the game."

"You can sleep in my dormitory, if you like," Hermione offered.

"Thanks," I said.

I finished my food and my plate, along with everyone else's, disappeared. Desserts of all kinds appeared in the middle, and a new plate appeared before me. I took two pieces of apple pie, and joined in on a conversation about Muggle transportation.

"Cars seem to be the favorite way for Muggles to travel," one boy said.

"My Dad had a car once," Ron told me, "Put a spell on it to make it fly. But Harry and I crashed it into the Whompin' Willow in our second year here and it drove itself into the Forbidden Forest."

"So, do you usually fly to get around?" a girl asked.

"Well, yeah," I said, "I mean, that's what they're there for. But we use a car if it makes more sense. We've even snuck on a plane once."

"What kind of car do you have?" Neville asked.

"It varies," I answered, "Whichever one we can steal the easiest." Everyone's eyes widened and I quickly explained, "Well, I mean, I'm not a bad person, but it's hard to get around, you know. Hard to get away from things."

"What things?" the girl continued, "I mean, anything that bothered you, you could just fly away from it, right?"

"But sometimes the thing you're trying to get away from can fly, too, so then you're pretty much screwed," I told her. The people listening laughed.

"So now Harry Potter is friends with a Mudblood, a Weasley and a Muggle. Are you trying to make friends with every type of lowlife, Potter?" I heard a voice behind me and turned to see a boy with blond hair and a voice cold enough to freeze ice. Two other boys stood behind him. They were twice the size of me with huge muscles.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry said.

"I just can't believe Dumbledore let a Muggle into the castle," Malfoy continued, "What's next? Letting Muggles take _tours_ of the castle?"

Harry and Ron looked ready to fight, but I flashed them a look and stood up on my own. I put on my best innocent eyes and folded my hands, "Why, will you take me on one? I'd really like to see where they keep the assholes who don't know when to keep their mouths shut. Oh, wait. Here they are. I have to say, they look a lot bigger in the brochure, don't you agree?" I turned and looked back at the students sitting at the table. A few nodded, and they all laughed.

"No one speaks to me like that!" Malfoy snapped.

"And yet…wait a minute…I just did. You need to pay better attention to what's going on around you," I said, still using an annoying, condescending voice, "It may…" I unfurled my wings and his stunned face was priceless, "shock you!"

Malfoy stumbled backward, then walked – ahem…ran - away, glancing back at me every few steps. I folded my wings back in and sat down. Everyone at the table was still cracking up, though a few people looked just as shocked as Malfoy.

"That was bloody brilliant, Max," Ron said.

"I've never seen him so pissed," Harry added.

"Well, I do have a gift to get under people's skin," I said with a smile. I took the last bite of my apple pie and licked the excess apple off my fingers.

"Are you done, then?" Hermione asked. I nodded, trying to remember the last time I was this full. "I'll show you to the common room."

She, Ron, Harry and I stood and they led me through a maze of corridors. I didn't think I'd need escape routes, but I tried to gather them. But in this castle, it was hard to keep track of which way I should even _go_. Finally we reached a portrait of a fat lady.

"Password?" the portrait asked.

"Pigswaddle," Harry said.

To my astonishment, the portrait swung open. My eyes were wide. There was another thing I noticed: all the pictures on the walls moved. I figured this was normal in Hogwarts, since no one else seemed bothered that the pictures didn't stay put.

"The girls' dormitory's this way," Hermione said, leading me up a set of stairs, "We're at the very top. It's quite a hike." She said all this in a way that made me think she didn't think I was capable of climbing a set of stairs. This is _me_ we're talking about, people!

We finally stopped at the top. She turned to me and said, "I've got homework to do. But you can relax up here or come with me down to the common room."

"Actually I'm pretty tired," I said, "Where do you want me to sleep?"

"That bed's empty. You can sleep there," Hermione pointed at a bed next to hers, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I said. She left. I went to the window and looked out. Part of me said, "Go find the others! Get out! You're going to regret this!" but another part of me really wanted to go to the Quidditch match tomorrow. How many opportunities would I get to see boys and girls on broomsticks flying? Not many, I guessed. So, tired and content, I crawled into bed and fell asleep faster than I ever had before.

**OK, there was only one question I need to answer.**

**Q: How did the peoples know about Erasers?**

**A: I figured Erasers were a mythical creature of sorts, so why wouldn't they know? They know all the other mythical creatures, why not this one.**

**Well, that's all really. I started cross country Monday and I ran 2 miles today!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter Four**

I woke up the next morning earlier than anyone else in the dorm. At first I was surprised; I'm not used to waking up in a bed. And if I _did_ wake up in a bed, my flock was beside me. Then I heard something. It was a tapping at the window. At first I thought it would be Fang, but instead I saw an owl. Hermione woke up with the tapping of the owl, and opened the window to let it in. It dropped a letter on her lap and flew back out the window.

"Hey," Hermione said sleepily.

"Hey," I said back, "What was the owl here for?"

"To bring me a letter. They usually bring it during breakfast. I wonder why…" her voice trailed off as she read the letter. Her face twisted into anger and she jumped out of bed. "Get up!" she snapped.

"What?" I said, shocked.

"Get up!" she ordered, "We have to talk to Dumbledore!" She looked over to see that I wasn't out of bed yet and snapped, "UP!"

I got up as Hermione hurried to change into her robes. "If we're in such a hurry, why don't you just go out there in your pajamas?" I muttered so quietly that she couldn't hear me. Once she was dressed, she ran to the door and began to tear down the stairs. I followed her, totally lost.

We stopped in the hallway when we met an old lady in green robes.

"Professor McGonagall!" Hermione cried, "I have to talk to Dumbledore right away!"

"What's wrong, Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked.

"Have to talk to Dumbledore!" Hermione cried, out of breath.

"Can't it wait?" McGonagall asked. Hermione shook her head, "I'll take you to his office." She looked over and realized I was there, "And who's this?" We began to walk – ahem…run – to his office.

"Maximum Ride," I answered.

"What year are you in, Miss Ride?" McGonagall asked.

"Um…I don't go to this school," I told her.

"Hermione?" McGonagall said, "Did you authorize this with anyone?"

"Dumbledore knows," Hermione answered, "She…she's a Muggle."

McGonagall looked stunned and maybe even a little angry.

"Ninety-eight percent Muggle that is," I told her. If possible, she looked even more surprised and I explained, "See, I'm not like other humans. Some people at this lab did some things and long story short…I have wings…"

More astonishment from Professor McGonagall, but we began to go again. We kept going for the longest time, half running, half walking until finally we stopped before a statue and McGonagall said, "Tarantula toffee." A staircase appeared. Hermione began to run up the staircase (with me following) and then, I was in an office. We took seats at the desk. Dumbledore was obviously not here yet.

I was about to ask Hermione what this was about, but she was staring at a hat on his desk.

"It's the Hogwarts Sorting Hat," Hermione explained, "It sorts you into the Hogwarts Houses."

"Houses?" I asked.

"Yes. There's Gryffindor; that's the one Harry, Ron and I are in. Then there's Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Malfoy's in Slytherin," Hermione said.

"Well, if Malfoy's in Slytherin, they must be loads of fun," I said sarcastically, and Hermione smiled.

"Miss Granger!" the Hat said, "What brings you to Dumbledore's office?"

"Oh, nothing," Hermione lied. Then she seemed to brighten, "Why don't we put the Hat on you and see what House you should be in!"

"But I'm not a witch," I pointed out, "Does it even work on Muggles?" Hermione shrugged and placed the hat on my head.

"It's not going to work," I mumbled. Then I heard a tiny voice in my ear. It was the Hat talking.

"Courage, loyalty, love, and a willingness to work hard. You have many valuable traits, Maximum. And you have great magical capabilities I doubt you knew you had," the Sorting Hat said, "But, alas, you do not go to Hogwarts. If you did, I believe it would be GRYFFINDOR!" He shouted out the word 'Gryffindor' at the end.

"We'd be in the same House!" she smiled, removing the Hat from my head, "So what did it say?"

I didn't get a chance to answer her since Dumbledore walked in the door just then. I was kind of relieved since I wasn't sure about the Hat telling me I had 'magical capabilities I didn't know I had.'

Dumbledore sat at his desk and said, "What's bothering you, Miss Granger? Professor McGonagall tells me that you practically knocked her over while you searched for me." He chuckled a little.

"This," Hermione answered in a very determined voice, pulling out the letter, "Listen:

"_Dear Hermione Granger,_

_We have been informed through a reliable source that you are concealing a Muggle inside Hogwarts. This violates the Muggle Protection Act set in place. The Muggle will need to appeal before a jury to determine whether she will need her memory erased. This is a serious matter which needs to be treated as such. A correspondent will be dispatched to Hogwarts at four o' clock this evening. Please have the Muggle prepared for departure at that time._

_Cornelius Fudge"_

Hermione finished and stared at Dumbledore. "Hm," he said, "That is quite the predicament you have."

"I'd say so," Hermione said.

"I'll talk to Fudge this evening when he comes and we'll sort this whole thing out," Dumbledore said, "Ah, it's nearing seven o' clock! You'll be late for your studies, Miss Granger."

"Classes don't start for an hour," Hermione said, confused.

"Yes, but you need to eat a proper breakfast," Dumbledore said. We both stood, but Dumbledore stopped me, "Miss Ride, would you mind staying for a moment?"

"No," I said. Hermione left.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" he asked.

I scratched my nose to avoid answering. How did he know? After a very long silence, I said, "Yeah. It's about the Hat."

"The Sorting Hat?" Dumbledore asked, but he didn't seem that confused.

I nodded, "Hermione thought it'd be fun to see where I'd be placed. I wasn't sure it would work, since I'm not a witch, but it did. It said I had many valuable traits and magical power that I didn't know I had. But that's not possible. I can't be a witch." I was about to add 'the people at the School would know' but I didn't think that was a great idea.

Dumbledore laughed and said, "Anything is possible, Miss Ride." And then, almost as if he read my mind, he said, "Hogwarts is a fine school. We would be glad to have you attend classes as soon as possible."

"But I'd be with the first years, and they're eleven. I'm fourteen," I pointed out. I didn't want to say that I had a family of winged freaks waiting for me. No one needed to know there were more of us, although I got a sense from Dumbledore that he already knew.

"We could give you extra classes to catch you up," Dumbledore told me, "You _can_ be a witch, Max. You can be anything."

His voice reminded me so much of Jeb's that it was scary. My mind went into panic mode. My heart raced just as fast as my thoughts. I stood up from the chair. "I have to go," I mumbled so quietly it was a wonder he even heard. Then I raced out of his office and down the stairs.

I went sprinting through the hallway. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. Surprisingly, I found my way to the front door and didn't even stop to open it. I didn't stop until I saw a little hut beside the forest. Hagrid's house. Harry had mentioned where it was at dinner last night. Hermione had told me she had his class this morning. She was there now; I was sure of it. But it would be too hard to say goodbye. It always was.

I sprinted around the castle away from view of the hut. I began to take a running start and lifted off into the sky, but just like before, someone had hold of my foot and had pulled me back to the ground.

"You think you're smart, do you?" a familiar sneer said.

I was _not_ in the mood. "Crawl in a hole and die, Malfoy. I'm busy," I snapped.

"Oo, good comeback," he said sarcastically, "We're not supposed to do magic outside of class, but this is a special case. The exterminators called. They want their freak taken care of." I stood up and prepared to take off again, but Malfoy had his wand pulled and was pointing it…right…at…my…chest…

Ah, jeez.

**I'm in a pissy mood. I need to rant. First: yeah, OK, so there wasn't any Quidditch in Hogwarts Year 4, but I thought it would be interesting for Max to find someone else who can fly! So, I made a mistake! Get over it! And second: So what if Erasers are scientific? You people keep pestering me about how the wizards know about Erasers! Dumbledore is all-knowing! Why wouldn't he know?!?!?!?!?!?!**

**Sorry. That was just like three people who said that. And it's not like they said, "Why the **_**BEEP**_** would the people at Hogwarts knowing about the **_**BLEEPING**_** Erasers?" or "You **_**BEEPING**_** idiot! There wasn't any Quidditch in the fourth year at Hogwarts!" No. No one said it like that. I shouldn't take out my bad mood on the poor people on Fanfiction.**

**Someone also asked if I was going to make this Harry/Max. To tell you the truth, I don't know. I was thinking about making it Max/Ron, or possibly even being totally oldskool and going Faxxy. Well, tell me what you think. I love hearing people's opinions, even if what they say makes me angry or pissed. sigh Hell, it's not your fault that I happen to be in a bad mood the day I get a review telling me I - heaven forbid - messed up on something. Keep reviewing and I'll keep writing, for without you guys I would have given up on writing a long time ago! –Alyson May**

**By the way, sorry this author note is so long……………**


	5. Chapter 5

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter Five**

I had been close to death many, many times. But never before had I been paired with a guy who could kill me without even losing his breath. The fact was that he was a wizard, and I was a poor bird-kid scared me. However this ended would _not_ be pretty.

"Let her go," someone ordered from behind Malfoy. Malfoy's friends parted and a boy walked through. My heart leapt as I saw Fang. He looked ready to kill. I smiled, but when I blinked something strange happened. Fang wasn't there anymore. Instead it was Harry, wand out and eyes cold.

"Why?" Malfoy snapped, "I think I'll be doing her a favor. Look at her: weak, miserable, parentless and desperate for friends. Sounds kinda like you, eh, Potter?" He had turned his back. A mistake, I figured, since the second his attention had turned, I balled my fists and got a nice, clean shot across his left cheekbone.

Malfoy touched his cheek gently. He flashed me a look and walked away with those thugs he calls friends.

"My God," I barely breathed.

"What happened?" he asked, then he noticed my tearstained cheeks and a look of concern came over his face, "Why are your cheeks all red?"

"Oh…" I said, touching them softly, "Um….I got winded."

Harry nodded. "Ah," he said, "Well, now that you're saved, I gotta get back to class. I got Snape next."

I nodded, too and said, "I haven't the slightest clue who that is, but by the sound of your voice, he doesn't sound like fun."

"He's not," Harry chuckled.

"Well, good luck," I laughed. I glanced back at the forest and Harry noticed.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked.

I shrugged, "Thought I'd wander around. See what there is to see."

Harry nodded and said, "Don't get lost. See ya later." And with that, he turned and walked back into the castle with one quick backwards look at me.

I turned and walked the opposite way. Something told me I needed to enter the forest. I don't know what, but I just knew there was something waiting for me in there. As I passed Hagrid's hut, Hagrid stepped out and said, "Oh, hey there, Max! Where are you off to?"

"I thought I'd go into the forest, you know, to kill some time before the Quidditch match," I told him.

Hagrid gave me a really disapproving look and said in a low tone, "Max, there are some bad things in that forest. You'd do better not to go in there."

I looked from Hagrid's eyes to the vast forest in front of me. "Doesn't look so dangerous. I've seen worse," I said.

Hagrid chuckled, but it was grim, "May not look so terrifying now, but just wait until you meet a vampire or sumpin'." **(A/N: Go, Edward!!!! Woohoooo!!!!!! Sorry……) **

I was quiet. Nothing I could say seemed like a good enough reason to enter the forest. _Sorry, Hagrid, but I just feel a need to go into the forest because my subconscious is telling me to. Hope you don't mind,_ didn't seem like a good answer.

Finally, defeated, I said, "Fine. I'll go fly around a bit, stretch my wings."

Hagrid beamed, "Sounds like a good idea! There's nothin' worth seein' in that forest, anyway."

"That you know of," I muttered too quietly for Hagrid to hear. I turned and walked away, annoyed and angry. I got a running start, jumped and flew into the air.

I flew up high until I reached the highest tip of the castle. I took a deep breath and perched myself on the tip of the tower. At first, I just sat there, looking out at the campus. There were kids with Hagrid now for his next class. Several people stood together, talking by the lake. It really was the perfect view.

Then I stood, positioning my feet so I was balanced. I spread out my arms to reach for the clouds. I snapped my wings back out and stretched them as far as I could, till it almost hurt. Closing my eyes, I titled my head back and breathed.

For a minute there, I felt invincible. Nothing could touch me; no one could hurt me. I had conquered fear and defeated boundaries! I was on top of the world!

Then I felt hands on my back, shoving me from my own personal Cloud Nine. I stumbled and let out a high-pitched screech before I toppled off the tower head-first.

It didn't occur to me to use my wings to save myself. My Cloud Nine had left me in a dazed sort of mood. And just as I was aware that unfurling my wings might be the only was I could survive, someone caught me. I didn't open my eyes as he/she carried me to the ground, but whoever it was didn't set me down just yet. Finally, I decided I should probably open my eyes.

Black eyes stared me down, looking both angry and relieved, if that's possible. His wings matched his eyes and his hair and he was a master at the monosyllables.

"Hi," I said quietly.

"That's for not coming back within a reasonable time span," Fang snapped.

"_You_ pushed me?!" I nearly yelled, "I could've died!" Fang glared down at me, then let his hands out from under me. I fell to the ground, landing on my butt.

"You see those feathery things on your back? Yeah, they're not just there for decoration! They can be used for things such as saving yourself when you get pushed off a tower and coming back when you say you will!" Fang yelled.

"I'm sorry!" I shouted, not sorry at all, "Ari attacked that first day and I was in the hospital since yesterday!"

"_Hospital?_" Fang sputtered, "Great! Let's let _more_ people know about the mutant birdkids!"

"If not for Hermione, I would be dead!" I shouted.

Fang laughed, "The people at Itex _saved_ you? That's new."

"It's not Itex!" I snapped, "It's..." I trailed off. Would they kick me outta here for blowing their secret? I promised I would go to the Quidditch match tonight….although Quidditch seemed so insignificant now that Fang was here.

"I'm waiting!" Fang snapped.

I glared into his eyes, hoping that maybe my glare would make him forget that he wanted to know what this odd castle in the middle of nowhere was, if not Itex.

"It's none of your business, that's what it is," I said as calmly as possible.

Ron came around the corner. When he saw the menacing look I'd been giving Fang, he looked a little taken aback, but he spoke anyway. "Harry said you were wandering the grounds and sent me to get you. Lunch is being served in the Great Hall, if you want to come."

"Hold on, I'm coming," I said, making my voice natural.

"Will your friend be joining us?" Ron asked. He was eyeing Fang skeptically.

"No," I answered a little too quickly, "Look, I've got to finish this. Go on without me. I'll be there in a bit." Ron nodded and smiled at me, still looking curiously at Fang.

"_Lunch?!_" Fang snapped, "We're off searching for food, eating berries and cooking rats, and you're being served _lunch_ and have boys coming to get you to _eat_? What is this, a boarding school that happens to specialize in freak surgery?"

"Something like that," I muttered. I stared at my feet and finally managed to say, "I promised to go to this thing tonight. Meet me by the lake around eight."

"A _thing_?" Fang was still appalled that I was being served lunch.

"Goodbye." I said.

"Eight at the lake?" Fang clarified,

"Yeah."

"Bye." Fang said. He turned, took a running start, and flew away.

I was still pissed as I walked into the castle and found my way to the Great Hall, not an easy task, mind you. I swear if Malfoy met up with me now, I'd punch him and his thug friends so hard they'd _just_ start losing the bruise on their 30th birthdays.

I walked into the Great Hall and sat with Ron, Hermione and Harry. I took a turkey sandwich and ate it, but that was it.

"Are you OK, Max?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, yesterday you ate four platefuls of food, today just a turkey sandwich," Ron said.

"I'm just not hungry," I said, picking at the coleslaw I'd taken.

"So who was that bloke you were talking to out there?" Ron asked.

"Just…somebody," I answered.

"A _boyfriend_?" someone at the table (Lavender Something-Or-Other?) laughed. The surrounding people sneered, "OoOoOoOoOo"'s and for some reason Ron turned bright red.

"No, not a boy…" I couldn't even make myself finish the word. I grimaced at my coleslaw and said, "I _really_ don't want to talk about it."

Of course that didn't prevent everybody from _still _talking about it. I didn't talk at all, really. Not even when someone brought up something called a boggart that hides in closets.

Finally, lunch was over and everybody had to go to class. I went to the library and engrossed myself in books on wizards and witches and Hogwarts and even found out what a boggart was a shape-shifting monster that takes the form of whatever it thinks will frighten those near it the most.

I closed the book when I saw it was getting late. I stood and walked to the door, already dreading the Quidditch match since it meant I had to see the flock and explain that much sooner.

**Alrighty, well that was a bit longer, wasn't it? Not really……sorry it took so long to update, but I told you on chapter one that I couldn't update every single day! I'll try every three days or so, but I can't promise immediate results. I've got a ton of ideas I'm hoping to put into action and I'll try to maybe write a little ahead of what I post. Just don't expect me to post every damn day!!!!!!!!!**

**What's going on in my life, you ask? Well, yesterday I had guitar practice and then I went home and playing the chords to Big Girls Don't Cry by Fergie and Because of You by Kelly Clarkson until my fingertips hurt even to **_**touch**_**. I also bought a new CD, Paramore RIOT! I **_**love**_** Misery Business and For a Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic. Hayley somethingorother (I'm horrible with names, can you tell?) has such an amazing voice! I'm hoping to buy another CD next weekend, but where I'll get the money I have no idea. Maybe I'll buy Taylor Swift's new CD…or Lilly Allen, I heard one of her songs on Fuse today and liked it. Now I'm just rambling…..well, review PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter 6**

I took a deep breath and entered the stadium close to Hermione's side. _Well,_ I thought, _at least this is better than a football stadium. For one, there aren't any cheerleaders. _I watched as the match began.

"Why is Harry so high up?" I whispered in Hermione and Ron's direction.

"He's looking for the snitch," Ron said, as if it should be obvious.

I bit on my top lip, trying to understand. "Then why are those people chasing the red ball?" I said, "I mean, the…snitch….scores a ton of points, so why isn't everybody looking for it?"

Ron started to speak, still marveling at the fact that I didn't know these things, but Hermione stopped him and answered for him, "The quaffle scores 10 points every time it goes through those hoops. If everyone was looking for the snitch, there'd be pandemonium every time it would be sighted. Get it?"

"I think so…" I said.

The crowd cheered and I turned to Hermione for help. "Gryffindor just scored 10 points!" she cheered.

I smiled in response, but I felt stupid not knowing these things.

The game went slowly. When all was said and done, Gryffindor had 190 points, and Slytherin had 60 points, and I _still_ had no clue what happened, despite the thorough explanation of every play that Hermione gave me.

"Great match!" Ron exclaimed as we made our way out of the stadium, "I can't wait to see Malfoy's face in class tomorrow!"

"Yeah, you did great!" I complemented him.

"Thanks!" Harry said, "What'd you think of the dive I did to catch the snitch?" He and Ron looked at me expectantly. Hermione looked at me with a look that I could decipher as, "Did you even _see_ that dive?" Either that or, "You didn't even know what was going on for the past few hours, did you?"

Everyone continued to stare at me, and I fought the blood that was going to rush to my cheeks, turning them bright red. Finally, I repeated, "Yeah, you did great!" They all laughed.

We walked out of the stadium and into the bright sunshine. Ron, Hermione and Harry began to walk up to the castle, but I stopped short.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Um," I said, glancing over at the lake, "I actually have to talk to someone…" My voice trailed off as I saw Fang by the lake, already waiting for me. I couldn't tell if the rest of the flock was with him, or if it was just him, but he was definitely there.

"Someone who?" Ron asked.

"A friend…" again my voice trailed off. I was too preoccupied to pay complete attention to my new friends' questions. All I wanted was to know what Fang was thinking. Was he mad? Confused? Weirded-out? Annoyed? Well….obviously annoyed….I went off alone two days ago and then didn't come back for several days….annoyed was a given…..

"Max?" Ron's voice brought me back into reality.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Could you answer my question?" Ron asked.

"I'm sorry…I didn't hear….what?"

"Is it the boy from earlier? The black-haired one?" Ron asked.

"Yes."

"Are you sure you should talk to him?" Hermione asked, "I mean, from what Ron said, it seemed like you were mad at each other."

My eyes wandered back to Fang waiting by the lake and I took a long time before I answered her. Finally I said, "I have to talk to him." I turned and began to walk toward Fang.

Instantly, Harry, Ron and Hermione were at my side. I glanced at them all and tried not to wince at the thought of Fang seeing me with my new friends.

I watched Fang intensely as we approached him. He didn't know we were there yet; either that or he knew but was playing it cool. He was staring out into the water. I sighed and said, "Fang."

He turned and looked at me. "Yo," he said lamely.

"Hey," I replied.

He nodded toward my new friends. "You gonna introduce me?" he asked, a sneer in his voice.

"Um…yeah…" I said, "Fang, this is Ron, Hermione, and Harry. They, um, go to school here…..um…..this is Fang…."

"So…um…Fang," Hermione said, in an effort to be friendly, obviously, "Do you have wings, too?"

Fang made a noise that sounded more bearlike than human and shot me a look that was truly frightening. Finally, he said, "Yes."

"Cool, mate!" Ron cried, "So you can fly too!" It wasn't a question.

"That's kind of the point," Fang said, still grumbling.

"How long have you two been _friends_?" Harry asked, emphasizing the word _friend_ more than necessary. This seemed to have sparked Ron's interest, too, but Hermione jabbed Ron in the ribs (since she was the one who was next to him) and shot a warning glance at Harry.

I was about to answer, but Fang beat me to it. "Day one," he growled.

It looked like Hermione was about to say something, but before she got the chance, we heard people talking – no, _shouting_ – behind us. One man I didn't know, but the other was Dumbledore. They were coming towards us. Dumbledore looked calm and eventempered, but the other man looked shockingly angry.

"I don't want to speak any further on the subject, Albus!" a man shouted, "The Muggle girl has been shown too much! I don't know what got into that _Granger_ girl" he said the name with more annoyance than those Itexians show for me, "what with bringing the girl inside the castle! Lucius Malfoy said she was quite rude to poor Draco! The girl is wreaking havoc on Hogwarts and must be shown the way!"

Finally, Dumbledore got a chance to speak, "And by 'the way' you mean…" He didn't get to finish his thought for the first man interrupted him again.

"Yes, yes, Albus," the first man said impatiently, "She must have her memory erased! And if Granger wasn't still in school, why, I'd have half a mind to throw her in Azkaban! She must be punished, Albus! I suggest detention, as a _minimum!_ Expulsion should be considered!"

Dumbledore and the other guy were getting extremely close.

Fang stared at me, confused, "Memory erased? What is this, a crazy house?"

I ignored him, and instead turned to my new friends, "What do we do?!"

"Um…" Hermione said. She seemed to be near tears. I remembered what the man had said…detention…expulsion…she must be pretty upset.

Dumbledore and Mystery Man stepped before us and stopped. Mystery Man's face was twisted in fury, but Dumbledore was still composed.

"This is Cornelius Fudge," was all Dumbledore could get out, because the other man interrupted again.

"You! Muggle girl! What is your name?!" Fudge shouted at me.

"Maximum Ride," I answered, confused.

"And you?!" he barked at Fang, spewing spit at him in his anger.

Fang paused to wipe the spit out of his eye before answering, "Fang."

"Fang? Fang what? What is your last name, boy?!" Fudge shouted.

Fang set his jaw and answered quietly, "I don't have one."

Fudge seemed pretty confused at that. Finally, he said, "You don't have a last…never mind. And I assume _Granger_ told you everything?" He seemed to direct the question at Fang, as if he were the leader of our group.

Fang twitched in anger and answered, "Nupe. She hasn't told me anything. I'm still a little fuzzy with the names." He turned to Hermione, pointed at her and said, "You're Hermione, right?"

Fudge roared in anger and frustration, "Why are you acting so insolent?! Don't you know your _life_ is at stake?!" He got real close to Fang's face and said, "Why aren't you _listening_ to me?"

Fang didn't flinch as more droplets of spit flew at his face. Once again, he wiped his face before answering, "Why are you asking _me_ the questions?"

Fudge backed off and said, "What was that?"

"I'm not the leader. Hell, I just got here. _She's_ the leader. Ask _her_ the stupid questions. I'm just along for the ride," Fang said.

"_She's_ the leader?" the man clarified.

"Yip," Fang answered.

"_The girl_ is the leader?" the man asked.

"Yes."

"You let _the girl_ be leader?" the man said.

Before, Fang could answer, I cut in and snapped, "Yes, yes, he does! Oh, I know, why let _the girl_ be leader? After all, she's _just a girl_. Nothing important. Just something nice to look at."

Fudge ignored me and turned to Fang, "Why do you let _the girl_ be leader?"

"She's the strongest, oldest and most determined," Fang shrugged.

"Now that _that's _cleared up," I muttered.

"Cornelius, I don't think we need discuss this here," Dumbledore cut in, glancing at the crowd that had formed.

"You're right," Fudge said, straightening his purple robes, "We will discuss this at a later date. I shall be dropping in again tomorrow. If you have left, there will be _severe consequences_."

He stalked away, leaving me to feel completely….oh, what was the word? …Thwarted. Yes, that works.

**Sorry it took so long for me to finish this. I usually have time to **_**plan**_** and to check it over and over again, but my mom wouldn't let me go on the computer yesterday, and I had my freshman orientation today, so I didn't get a change cuz that took, like, 6 hours. Just the friggin freshman orientation! They made us introduce ourselves to the people I've known since kindergarten! But I did find my classes, and **_**hopefully**_** I won't get lost.**

**Hopefully.**

**Love yall! Keep reviewing, pretty peas! -AlyMay**


	7. Chapter 7

**There's **_**kind of**_** spoilers in this chapter. So if you haven't read School's Out Forever or Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, don't be mad at me if I give anything away.**

**When a Winged Girl Meets Magic Boy**

**Chapter 7**

Everyone else watched Cornelius Fudge leave us, but I watched Fang, waiting for his reaction.

Finally, Dumbledore said, "Well, it seems we have another guest here at Hogwarts."

Fang ground his teeth together. I looked at him, decided him incapable of speech and said, "I didn't exactly tell him what Hogwarts taught."

"Ah," Dumbledore said, "So I assume you've been confused this entire time?"

Fang sighed, and said in his most sarcastic tone, "No, I'm perfectly happy being oblivious. Don't mind me."

Dumbledore chuckled, "This is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Fang."

Fang's face became more confused, if possible. He didn't answer, so Dumbledore went on, "Allow me to demonstrate." He pointed his wand at a stone lying beside the lake and said, _"Accio stone." _The stone flew to him and he caught it in his hand.

Fang seemed to snap out of his daze. "So you teach magic tricks," he said.

"Not magic tricks," Ron snapped, "_Magic._"

"Magic?" Fang repeated. Everyone nodded. Fang looked skeptically around at everyone and finally said, "Very funny. Fine, I'll leave so you can get back to whatever you were doing." He began to walk away.

"Fang, no!" I cried. I ran to catch up with his quick pace and caught him just before he began to get a running start, "They're not lying."

"Max, you sound crazy!" Fang said in a calm but sharp tone.

I sighed and said, "Yes, because hearing a voice in my head doesn't make me crazy at all. Or having wings. Or being raised in a dog crate and having a gigantic scar on my arm where I tried to saw out a microchip using a shell! No, those things don't make me crazy, but believing in magic when it's what saved my freaking life is crazy! Oh, yeah, that makes perfect freaking sense!" I was yelling by the end of my rant.

Fang stared at me, both skeptically and angrily, for a second before he heaved a sigh and averted his eyes. I waited for him to say something, but when he finally did it wasn't what I expected. "We need to leave," he said, "Like, now."

I sighed too and answered, "But he said…"

"What about the…others?" Fang said. He eyed the wizards/witches before saying 'others' and then continued, "I left them with Iggy. You remember the last time we left them alone with Iggy, don't you?"

I cringed and said, "Yes. I remember." **(A/N: Refer to STWAOES, chapter 15 if you don't know what 'the last time' means)**

"What happened the last time?" Harry piped up.

I sort of ignored Harry, but tried to do it as politely as possible, "Do we get them?"

"You really think it's a good idea to stay here?" Fang asked.

"I'm not sure," I admitted, "But I _really_ don't think it's going to be good to have Fudge coming after us if we go AWOL."

Fang nodded once and said, "So will you go get them or do you want me to?"

"You go ahead," I said as I watched relief flood over Fang in a way only I could decipher, "I think I've got some explaining to do here."

Fang snorted in response, turned, ran and flew off. I watched him for as long as I could then turned to everyone else.

"So." I said.

"You left some things out when you were talking about your life at dinner last night, Max," Hermione said.

"Yeah" was my reply.

They were quiet, so I said, "So…um…what do you want to know?"

"Just start at the beginning, Max," Dumbledore said, "Tell us how you got your wings."

"Well…" I said, "OK. I was born to a human mother…" And I began to tell Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore my life story…

**Fang POV**

It took only a few minutes to get back to the rest of the flock. I landed with a _thud_ at the entrance and called, "Hey! You guys! Get over here!"

They all emerged, looking _very_ bored and a little worried.

"Where's Max?" Angel asked.

"Max ran into a complication," I said. I was sure Angel was picking my mind now, to get the details, but I said it for everyone else's benefit, anyway, "I think she got into a fight with Erasers, but she's OK. She was in the hospital for a couple days, but she's out now. There are people at this…school…that say they can do magic. It's…weird…but I don't know. Max seems to believe them, but I'm not sure. Long story short, there's this weird guy who wants Max and me's memory erased or something and we're not allowed to leave."

"Why not?" Nudge asked.

"Because I guess we'll be hunted down or something like that," I said.

"And Max thinks it's a good idea to stay?" Iggy said skeptically.

"She trusts these people," I said, "She said she's not sure it is, but she doesn't think leaving is a better choice." I looked around at them all.

"So you just left her there?" Nudge asked.

"No," I said, "We're all going back now."

"Back to…where…exactly?" Iggy asked.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," I quoted in a booming voice, making Nudge, Angel and the Gasman laugh. I took a deep breath and said, "Come on. Let's go."

**Max POV**

"So you have a voice in your head?" Ron clarified, giving me a look like I was crazy.

"Yes," I said.

"And you were raised in a dog crate?" Harry said.

"Yeah."

"And just here a couple of months ago, you saved the world from some evil people at some company called Itex?" Hermione said.

"Uh-huh."

"I don't believe it," Dumbledore said.

Anger sparked up in me, "Well, I'm not lying!" I snapped.

"No, that's not what I mean," Dumbledore clarified, "I knew Dr. ter Borcht. I'm just…surprised that he accomplished his dream."

"So he knew about you, too?" I asked.

A smile slid across Dumbledore's face and he said, "No. He never knew. Not the brightest man when it comes to common sense."

It wasn't a question, but I still said, "No, he's not." I looked over Dumbledore and saw five little specks approaching very quickly. I tried not to let my eyes linger on it. I hadn't exactly mentioned the flock when I told them everything.

"Amazing," Dumbledore breathed.

"Max!" I heard, and saw Nudge and Angel sprinting toward me. Gazzy followed close behind, trying to be less conspicuous about his excitement at seeing me. Fang led Iggy a ways back, explaining the scenery.

Nudge and Angel tackled me with hugs and Gazzy joined in when he got there. It was loud – all of them were talking at once.

"Max! What happened? I mean, you left and Fang said you got in a fight with Erasers but you seem to be OK and he mentioned something about magic! Oh, my God can they do magic? Like Houdini? And Evel Kneivel? Wow, I love her hair! And the guys are so cute!" Nudge was babbling at top speed.

"Can those guys really do magic? Cool! I want to learn how! Can they teach me? Please ask them for me, Max! Please! Or do you have to be a certain age to do it. If you do, then I want to come back when I'm old enough! Wouldn't that be so awesome, Max? I mean, it'd really help in fights with Erasers! We'd be like, _abracadabara!_ And they'd be like _BANG!!!!_ And we'd be like 'Bye, bye, suckers!" the Gasman was saying.

"I missed you, Max. I wish you hadn't left. I mean, it's not the same when you're not here! I don't know what I'd do without you! I've been reading these people's minds and they all seem OK…" Angel was saying. I paid attention mostly to her. What she was saying seemed a tad more important than Evel Kneivel or blowing up Erasers (as fun as that thought was!).

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ron cried, "Who are these people?"

Everyone shut up at once.

"You didn't say?" Fang said.

"I thought I'd tell them when everyone got here. Kind of give an introduction, you know," I said. In truth, I'd just wanted to put off saying that this was my mutant family.

"Max!" Angel said, tugging on my jacket.

"What, honey?" I asked, turning to her. Her voice sounded urgent.

She looked scared, and I wondered what she'd heard. Finally, she said, "Max…I can't…"

"You can't what, Ange?" I asked. She looked scared. And I was going to kill whoever made her face look like that, "Angel! Angel, baby, tell me! What can't you do? What's wrong?"

Angel turned to look at Dumbledore and, pointing at him, said, "Why can't I…I can't…I can't read his mind!!!"

**MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! CLIFFIE!!!!! Well…Not really a cliffie, but still…………as long as you've ready Harry Potter 6, you should know why Angel can't read Dumbledore's mind. At least I think…oh, well, a few announcements before you press that lovely purple button like I know you will!**

**First: Someone reviewed anonymously with the name 'Winged Kunai' and asked if I could explain the American school system. Although I don't see how this is relevant because the story is set in Britain at Hogwarts, if you PM me or review this story, I'll try my best to answer your questions!**

**Second: My dad is cracking down on the whole school thing. I start on the 4th, so I have school from 8 to 3, and then cross country from 3 to 4:30 or 5. I'll have meets Thursdays and Saturdays, and I'm doing drama, so I'll have performances for that. Plus, I'm hoping to actually get asked out this year by people who aren't scary (hinthint) so maybe I'll actually get to go on a date. Long story short, my dad's made it clear that school and sports come first. Obviously he doesn't care about my dreams! –sob-**

**Well, my dears, now the time has come for you to press the glorious Go button! Review and I shall update!!!!!!!!! **

**-Peace!-**

**-Alyson May the Freshman-**


	8. Chapter 8

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy Chappie 8**

"What, honey?" I said quietly.

"His mind," Angel repeated in a hushed tone, "I can't read it." She was near tears, "I tried! I wanted us to be safe, but I keep getting blocked out!"

"It's OK, Angel. It'll be fine," or at least that was what I was _going _to say. Instead, I got out "It's…" and then Angel interrupted me again.

"Max, I keep trying, but it's not working!" she whispered, "Why can't I?"

I turned to Dumbledore with the intention of glaring, but I couldn't work up a good enough glare. Instead, I composed an annoyed/confused/shocked face and hoped it would work.

"Read his mind?" Ron said, "She must be mad!"

I glared at Ron. I think I heard Fang make a noise that sounded like a growl.

"Ron, Harry, Hermione…Dumbledore," I said, "This is my…um…family. This is Nudge, the Gasman, Iggy, Angel and you know Fang."

"What was that about mind-reading?" Harry asked.

"Um…you know how I mentioned that I have a special power? Being able to go super-fast and all? Well, I'm not the only one," I said, "My…family…can do it too. The Gasman can imitate any voice to perfection."

"And I love shopping and MTV and, ohmigod look at that plane!" Gazzy said, imitating Nudge, "It's like going superfast! Can we go as fast as that plane? Well, I know Max can, but I mean, can we? We should try it sometime! Like, right now! Come on, Max, can we go see if we can fly as fast as the plane? It'll be fun! Please! Please! Please! I mean, like, because that plane is so cool! It's white and….-gasp- I saw a mall! There's a mall down there Max! Let's go shopping at the mall!!!! I wonder if there's an Abercrombie and Fitch there! Or Hollister! Or American Eagle! Will, like, an alarm trigger if you steal something? Because that's, like, the only way I'll ever get anything from…" I put my hand up to stop him. He'd go all day, happily. He said all of this in a matter of seconds.

Nudge glared at him, "I _so _do _not_ sound like that!"

"Yes, you do," Gazzy said.

Then they got into a "Yes, you do," "No, I don't fight" and kept going until I broke them up. Finally, I was able to continue my thought.

"Nudge can touch stuff and instantly know things about the person who last used it," I said, but watched to make sure Nudge wouldn't demonstrate. Finally, I went on, "Angel can breathe underwater, talk to fish, read people's minds, and…um…I think that's it.

"Oh, you forgot that I can tell people what to do with my mind," Angel added. She once again eyed Dumbledore.

"Oh, yeah, that," I mumbled, "Iggy's blind, but he can hear things really well. Fang…doesn't really have any special powers…" I trailed off.

"Unless being the world's most unemotional person counts," the Gasman muttered. Fang glared at him.

"You really have powers?" Hermione asked.

I nodded.

"I don't believe it," Ron sneered.

"Max," Angel tugged on my jacket again.

"What?" I said.

"What's a Trelawney?" Angel asked me.

"Um…I don't know," I told her.

"Oh, sorry. Professor Trelawney. Got it. Who's that?" Angel asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, Ron thought, _That little girl's just like Trelawney. How ridiculous,_" Angel said, "So, who's Trelawney?"

I just gave Ron an I-told-you-so look and said, "Yes, Ron. Who _is_ Trelawney?"

"Um…the Divination teacher," Ron mumbled.

"Now he's thinking that she's a whack job," Angel told us, "Hey! That means you think I'm a whack job, too!" Angel pouted and I pulled her into a hug and glared at Ron.

"She really can read minds!" Ron cried.

"Yes," Angel said, "So why can I read _his_?"

Dumbledore chuckled, and I pulled Nudge in closer to me with my other arm. Something weird was going on here.

"We have a lot to learn about each other's worlds," Dumbledore said, "But now it is getting late, and we have to be well rested for Cornelius' visit tomorrow. Harry, Ron, would you show Fang, Gazzy and Iggy to the boys' dormitories? And Hermione to the girls'?"

"Um, that's OK," I said, "We'll just sleep in the Gryffindor common room. Couches beat trees any day."

"Very well," Dumbledore said, "Then shall we?"

"Sure," I answered. We began to walk away from the lake, but as soon as we entered the castle, I wished I had issued a warning. Nudge went off, and by that I mean…well, I think you get it.

"Oh, my God! Look at the pictures! They're _moving!_ Max, Max! Did you see the pictures?" she cried. I didn't even have time to say, 'Yes I saw them' before she was off again, "And the floors are so pretty! It's like marble! And what's that white thing over there? Oh, my God it's moving! It's a ghost, Max! There's a ghost _right there_!"

She went on for the longest time about everything she saw: the staircases, the wizards and witches doing magic in the hallways, this and that, until I could take no more and wheeled on her.

"Nudge!" I snapped, "I love you to death, but _be quiet_ before someone in this castle decides to make you in a different way!"

"In what way?" Nudge whispered.

"A _magic_ way," I said, "Possibly a _permanent_ way. So, for God's sake, shut up!"

Nudge shut up after that, but every now and then I'd hear her gasp or something like that. Finally we reached the dorm rooms and after we'd put the young'uns to bed, I stayed up with Fang, thinking Iggy was asleep.

"Are you sure this is the best decision?" Fang asked.

"I think we're safe enough here," I answered.

"That doesn't exactly answer my question."

I sighed and said, "I know." After another long pause, I said, "I don't think having everybody in the world knowing about us is good. We'd be freaks in their eyes. So in that way, staying here is bad. Every minute here, people have the opportunity to learn about us, to know what we look like and to further imprint ourselves in their brains. If we saw these people on the street again, they'd recognize us, and who knows if they'd have enough common sense not to scream out 'Hey, Bird Girl!' or 'It's the girl with wings! How you doin'!' When I think about that, I don't think being here is smart at all."

"But what about Fudge?" Fang asked.

"That's why we're here," I said, "These people could find us easier than the whitecoats ever could. I don't know how, but I'm sure they have their ways. And they could hurt us more. Leaving would make Fudge follow us, and I'm _positive_ I don't want to piss anyone off here too terribly much."

"You haven't yet?" Fang sounded shocked, "Wow. That's…wow."

"Shut up!" I snapped, but laughed, "Well, there was this one guy…"

"I knew it," Fang rolled his eyes, "What did he do? Breathe your air?"

"No," I said, "He made fun of Harry."

Fang didn't say anything, so I went on, "And then…just today…he was mad…I was leaving the school, just to wander around…just before I met up with you, actually. He caught me outside when I was alone. He pointed his wand at me. And he would've killed me. When you showed up…" I paused at the curious look on Fang's face, "or at least, I _thought _it was you. It really was Harry, but he came around the corner and he looked like you…" I laughed.

"I look like Harry?" Fang said skeptically. His tone was playful yet curious and serious.

"Well, no, not really," I said, "But I missed you…all of you…" I clarified.

Fang said nothing.

"Do you believe me now?" I asked quietly, "About the magic, I mean."

"I guess," Fang said, "It's just…weird."

I laughed, "And we're not?"

"You know what I mean." Fang was not laughing.

"I know," I said, "But we're pretty safe here. And everyone's having a great time."

"I'm not."

It wasn't Fang who spoke. It was Iggy. I turned to look at him, lying on his back on a couch. He sat up as he spoke again, "I can't see anything. Nudge was going on and on about the ghosts and the walls and the architecture of this place, but I can't see anything! I couldn't see the ghosts or the walls or the freakin' architecture at all! And that's why I want to get out of here, ASAP!"

"Well, none of us can really see the ghosts," I added, "They're transparent…"

"And you know what else bugs me?" Iggy continued, "You group me with Nudge, the Gasman and Angel! Well, you know what? I'm fourteen, just like you! They're eleven and eight and six! And I'm _fourteen_! And I'm getting sick of not seeing anything and then being told to go to bed when you and Fang stay up talking! I'm not a kid! Hell, I'm taller than the both of you!"

I didn't know what to say. I just watched Iggy as he fumed. Finally, I said, "Iggy?"

"What?!" he snapped.

"Would you like to add your thoughts on staying here?"

"Yes," he said, but didn't say any more.

I waited awhile, but then said, "And what are your thoughts on being here?"

"It's not so bad," Iggy admitted, "And you're probably right, about Fudge and everything. I believe you about the magic, and I agree with you that it's just as weird as we are. I'm not surprised that you already made an enemy. You're pretty good at that. It's just annoying when everyone is all excited about everything around us, and I don't know what the hell is going on."

"Ig, next time just ask and I'll explain it all," I said.

"Thanks," Iggy said.

"Anything else?" I asked.

Iggy thought for a while before saying, "Could you explain what Hermione looked like?"

"Just Hermione?" I laughed.

"Ron and Harry and Dumbledore, too," Iggy said, blushing.

I laughed and went into a long explanation of Hermione's looks, and then gave a brief explanation of Ron, Harry and Dumbledore.

Just as I thought the conversation was over and we were going to sleep, Iggy said, "Max? Do you think Hermione's pretty?"

I blushed, though he couldn't see it. I paused before saying, "I don't know, Iggy. You know me. I don't pay attention to those things. And if I said yes, wouldn't that be kind of weird?"

"I guess," Iggy said.

I went back to concentrating on sleeping, but just as I was drifting off, I heard Fang say, "Iggy? Iggy, you awake?"

"Yeah," Iggy replied.

"Is Max asleep?" Fang asked.

"I think so," Iggy said, "Why?"

"She's pretty, Ig," Fang told him, "She's way hot."

I think I growled, but they thought I was asleep so for all they knew, I was attacking an Eraser in my sleep.

**Mwahaha! I know the end was kind of filler, but it always bugs me when Max includes Iggy in with the rest of the kids in the flock and thinks of him as one of them. He's just as old as Max and Fang, so he should be allowed to help make decisions.**

**We have our first day of school on September 4th and our first cross country meet on September 7th. Wish me luck! It's shorter, only one and a half miles. And for all of you who are like 'One point five miles is SHORT?!?!?!?!?!?!' yes it is. Usually, we have to run three miles. So compare one and a half and three miles. Which would you rather have?**

**I had another thing I wanted to say, but I forgot……oh yes I remember! Some of you figured out why Angel couldn't read Dumbledore's mind, and told me in your reviews. I won't say if you're right because you'll find out soon enough anyway, but just remember that everyone can see reviews. Those who didn't know could (and can) go to the reviews place and find out why. This isn't really a big deal with this thing, but I like to surprise my readers, so it helps if there's no way to find out unless you PM me and say "GODDAMNIT TELL ME (insert question here)!!!!!" Like I said, no sweat, but if you think you know why someone can/can't do something PM me with the answer to tell me!**

**Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!! My author's note is long!!!!!!!!! I like long author's notes……I know everyone else hates them…….oh, well!!!!!! Congrats to all of you who actually read the whole thing!!!! You all win Pete Wentz dolls!!!!!!! (God he's hot! So much hotter than Jade Puget!!!!! X-Kadaj-X, don't you agree?)**

**Now hit that gorgeous purple go button and let me know your thoughts!!!!!**

**-Love-**

**-Alyson May Who is in Love With Pete Wentz-**


	9. Chapter 9

**The first few paragraphs are kind of bad because I was having a REALLY bad day, so when I went to write, it kind of came out angry. Not mad anymore, so after a little while it gets OK again!**

**Chappie 9**

I opened my eyes the next morning to see a young boy staring at me. I narrowed my eyes at him and said, "What're you lookin' at?"

"Professor Dumbledore wants you," the boy said.

I groaned and sat up. Looking around, I saw none of my flock. I was completely alone in the huge room with the exception of weird boy.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"In the Great Hall for breakfast, of course," the boy said perkily. Too perkily.

"And why aren't you there?" I nearly grumbled.

"I was told to wait for you to wake up," the boy said.

"Great." I turned and walked toward the door, but the boy ran after me. He just stared at me for the longest time until I said, "What?"

"Nothing," he said. But he kept staring.

"Kid, if you don't either A, stop staring at me or B, tell me _why_ you're staring at me, I'm going to kick your head to America so easily, it'll look like a football!" I snapped.

The boy gulped and said, "You drool when you sleep."

I fought back an urge to sock him one and instead said, "Gee, thanks, kid. That's some need-know info right there. That's not something you should have kept to yourself at all! Thanks for telling me!"

"You're welcome!" the boy smiled. He turned and pretty much skipped back up into the dorms.

I made my way to the Great Hall, nearly stomping the entire way there. I found Hermione, Ron, Harry, Fang, Angel, Gazzy, Nudge and Iggy sitting together at the Gryffindor table and sat down beside them.

"What's wrong, Max?" Nudge asked.

"Bad day," I grumbled.

"It's not even eight yet. How can you already be having a bad day?" Hermione asked.

I sighed and said, "It's possible. Trust me. It's possible."

"So what are you lot doing today?" Ron asked.

"Waiting for Fudge to come and figure out if we need our brains zapped or not," I said.

"But that won't be until later, right?" Hermione said, "What about until then?"

"Don't know," I grumbled.

"Why don't you come to class with us?" Harry suggested, "We've got Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout today, and I'm sure they won't mind."

"Yeah!" Gazzy smiled.

"Please, Max!" Angel cried.

"You guys go ahead. I'm just gonna hang around the grounds today. Maybe I'll go to the library and read some more on Hogwarts," I said. To tell the truth, I just _really_ didn't feel like being around people today, but I tried to keep that out of my immediate thoughts in case Angel was nitpicking my brain at the moment.

We finished up our breakfast and everyone began to leave. At first, I thought Fang was going to join me on my walk, but then I heard a couple of giggling girls talking to Iggy and him. "Can we walk you to class?" one said.

"Yeah! I mean, since you've never been through the castle before, we wouldn't want you to get lost!" the other laughed.

"Sure," Iggy smiled. Fang just nodded. One girl took Iggy's arm and the other got close to Fang's side as they dragged them to their class.

I grumbled more and began to walk from the Great Hall. But I kept hearing people talking about us. But most of all, people talking about Fang and Iggy.

"Who's cuter, do you think? The dark-haired one or the paler one?"

"The dark-haired one!"

"Without a doubt!"

"I think his name is Fang. Isn't that adorable!"

"No, I think the pale one is cuter."

"His name was Iggy."

I growled quietly and hurried my pace up to get out of the Great Hall. But a girl stopped in front of me. She was smiling so wide it was scary. After she stood there for the longest time, still saying nothing I snapped, "What the hell do you want?!"

She giggled and said, "Does Fang have a girlfriend?"

I shrieked in annoyance and anger and practically ran the rest of the way out of the Great Hall.

I burst out into the yard and sprinted toward the forest. Once again, I felt an insane need to go in there. I ran past Hagrid's hut as fast as I could and down the path into the forest.

At first, I tried to go with what seemed smart. You know, not going too far in and making sure I was always near a clearing in case I needed to take off. But after I got nowhere and had already been gone for several hours, I started just wandering around aimlessly.

After a while, I looked up and was surprised to see that it was getting dark. I wasn't scared of the dark, but I figured being out in the dark _here_ probably wasn't the best idea, so I turned and began to go back.

I wove my way through trees and shrubs and bushes until I broke through to a clearing where I saw a hooded figure. I took one step forward cautiously and immediately wished I hadn't. The figure saw me and pointed his wand. I was frozen in my steps, unable to move even an inch. The figure took his sweet time walking towards me.

"What is your name, girl?" the man said in a high but still pleasant voice.

I couldn't move my lips.

"I said what is your name?" the man said.

Still, my lips wouldn't move.

The man's lips curled up at the ends in what seemed to be a smile. He was enjoying himself. "Crucio!" the man shouted.

Pain erupted from every part of my body. I fell to the ground. I tried to move away from the source, but it wouldn't stop. The man above me laughed evilly and finally the pain went away. "Now, girl, your name?" he said, still pleasantly.

"Maximum R-Ride," I answered. I had tried my best to keep the shiver out of my voice, but found it impossible.

"Why don't you look me in the eye when you speak, girl?" the man said, "I could not hear you."

I stared at the ground. My limbs hurt and I could not stand.

"Did you hear me, girl? Stand!" the man said. His voice sounded a little sharper, but still humorous. My legs still wouldn't move for me. The man chuckled and said, "Imperio."

_Stand, girl,_ I heard in my head. But it was not the usual Voice. This Voice matched the man's identically.

This time my legs obeyed. I found myself standing, but not able to do anything else.

"Now, girl," he said, "Tell me again. What is your name?"

"Maximum Ride," I said, more confident this time.

"Ah, yes," he said, "I have heard many things about you. And I assume you have no idea who I am?"

"No," I answered. I tried to ignore the fear that was becoming hard to resist.

"My name is Voldemort," the man said quietly.

I didn't say anything, but I heard Voldemort's voice in my head again, _Shake hands with him._

My hand reached up and I shook the man's hand. "There you go, Ride. Not so hard, now is it?" Voldemort asked.

"No," I said.

"Now," Voldemort said, "I assume you have met Harry Potter by now." Voldemort began to pace around me, examining every part of me.

"Yes, I have," I said, trying to sound sure of myself.

"And you like him?" he said. He sounded like a shrink.

"He seems like a decent guy," I said.

Voldemort chuckled, but I couldn't see what was so funny, "Yes, he does, doesn't he? And did you happen to notice the scar on Potter's forehead, Ride?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Do you know who gave him that scar, Maximum?" Voldemort said.

"I didn't think it was any of my business," I answered.

Voldemort stopped pacing and came close to me, within inches of my face. "I did," he said, "When he was just a little baby boy, I gave him that scar." I didn't say anything. It wasn't like me to be scared like this, but I was. I really, really was. "Why aren't you speaking, Ride?" Voldemort sneered, "What are you so afraid to say?"

"Nothing," I lied. _Tell the truth, _I heard in my head, and again was unable to resist, "Why?"

"Why, what, Ride?" Voldemort asked.

"Why…did you give him that scar?" I asked, stumbling and stuttering on my words.

Voldemort chuckled, and the sound sent a shiver down my spine, "That's a very personal question, Ride. I don't think I know you well enough to tell you that. But maybe you can tell me something. Do you know a woman by the name of Dr. Martinez?"

_Don't lie,_ I heard in my head, _Tell the truth._

"N-N-No," I managed to say.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Voldemort said, "Why are you lying, Ride? Crucio."

Once again, I felt pain pulse through my veins and into my brain. I was unable to control myself. I screamed my head off. My knees wobbled and I fell on my face, still screaming. I must've looked like I was having a seizure. I flailed on the ground, and saw a series of things between periods of blackness.

The first was Voldemort laughing above me.

And then blackness.

Next, I saw a flash of white hair around me.

And darkness.

Third, I saw Voldemort stumbling backward, looking afraid. I liked that.

Again, it went dark.

Next, I saw Fang, Iggy, Hermione and Ron.

Darkness.

The last time I didn't resurface from the black. I dreamed a nightmare involving me at Dr. Martinez's house, running and running but unable to get anywhere. Voldemort was knocking on the door, and Dr. Martinez answered and…

I woke up before the dream ended. I didn't open my eyes. Maybe if I left them closed, Voldemort would think I was dead. Then, maybe I wouldn't have to feel anymore pain. I could just sleep forever…

"Is she OK?" Ron's frantic voice said.

"I think so," came Madam Pomfrey's voice, "I can't see any physical damage at all."

"What happened to her?" Hermione asked.

"I believe it was the Cruciatus Curse," Dumbledore said.

"Who was it?" Fang asked. I decided it was time to wake up, but just as I was ready, Harry spoke.

"What did he want with her?" Harry asked.

"Fang?" I mumbled, nearly incoherently.

"I'm here, Max," Fang said.

"It's my mom," I said.

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**Oo! What now? I have no idea…I'm in such a weird mood! Sorry it took so long to update, but I started school, so, you know what, GET OVER IT!!!!!!!! I had homework every day this week, which is more homework than I'm used to getting. 9th grade sucks! I had my first cross country meet last week. I took 14th in a 1.5 mile course. My time was 15 minutes and 24 seconds! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In news for my stories, I'm going to finish and post the last chapter to The Truth is Hard to Handle soon. I know most of you have no idea what that is! I hate having stories online that I'll never finish up, so I'm doing something about it. I deleted two stories and am finishing this one. Gotta go! I have homework in Geometry…**

**-Peace-**

**-Alyson May Who Has Decided That She Will Never Have a Boyfriend-**


	10. Chapter 10

**OK, I haven't been doing this but I probably should. Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Maximum Ride, though I totally wish I did!**

**Chapter 10**

I opened my eyes and saw Fang's face. He looked even more worried than he sounded. "What about your mom, Max?" he asked me.

"Voldemort…wants…my mom," I managed to say.

"Why would Voldymorf want your mom?" Fang asked.

"I don't know," I mumbled, "But he said…."

"Max?" it was Dumbledore who spoke, "Max? What did Voldemort say, exactly?"

"He asked me if I knew her," I said, although it came out more like, "HeaskmifIknewher."

"And what did you say?" Dumbledore asked.

"I tried to lie," I said, although it came out all mooshed together again. I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I had to close them. It took too much energy to keep them up.

"But?" Dumbledore prodded.

"He knew," I mumbled.

"What happened then?" Harry asked.

I whimpered like a boy even though I really didn't want to. Finally, I managed to say, "Pain."

"What's wrong with her?" Fang accused Dumbledore.

Dumbledore ignored him and said, "Max? Was there anything he said to you before the pain came?"

"Crocuo or Craysho or something like that," I mumbled.

"Did he say Crucio, Max?" Dumbledore asked.

"Mmhmm," was all I could say now. I was tired. My body ached.

"She needs rest," Dumbledore said, "We need someone to carry her up to the hospital wing."

"I'll do it!" Ron cried. I felt arms scoop me up and carry me, but it hadn't been three steps before I hit the ground again.

"Owwww," I groaned.

Fang scoffed and I felt arms wrap around me again. I laid my head against Fang's chest and felt sleepiness overcome me. I mumbled quietly against Fang's chest before I fell asleep, "Please don't drop me…"

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"Please Madam Pomfrey!" one girl cried.

"Yeah, _please_?" another asked.

"No!" Madam Pomfrey snapped.

"But they're _right there_!" one girl whined, "We just want to talk to them for one quick second before class starts!"

"You're going to be late if you don't hurry up!" Madam Pomfrey snapped, "And I said no, girls! Get out of the hospital wing! Miss Brown! Miss Patil! Come back here or I will give you both detention!"

"Hi, Fang!"

"Hi, Iggy!"

"Hey, Parvati!" Iggy said enthusiastically.

"Hey, Lavender," Fang mumbled. He didn't seem as excited to see Lavender as Lavender was to see him.

"She's still not awake?" Parvati asked.

"No," Iggy answered.

It was silent for a little while before Lavender spoke again, "Fang, Iggy, Parvati and I were wondering if you'd like to come and get some breakfast with us?"

"No, thanks," Fang said.

"You haven't eaten a decent meal in a week," Iggy pointed out.

My heartrate sped up. I'd been here for _a week_! "I'm not hungry," Fang said.

"Iggy?" Parvati asked.

"Sure, Parvati," Iggy said. I heard him stand, "Let's go." I heard two sets of footsteps fade away.

"Fang? You really do need to eat," Lavender said. She sounded defeated. I wondered if they went through this everyday, but this was just the first time I'd heard it.

"I'll eat when she…I'll eat later," Fang said.

"You were going to say when she wakes up, weren't you?" Lavender asked. Fang sighed, and Lavender went on, "Parvati and Iggy are just friends, Fang. We can be just friends, too."

"You don't want to be just friends," Fang said. His voice sounded dead, like he hadn't slept much for a week, either.

"No, I don't," Lavender said, "But I can live with it. I just want to get to know you, Fang."

Fang grunted.

"All you do all day is sit here and wait," Lavender said.

"She's going to wake up," Fang mumbled.

"And what if she doesn't?!" Lavender snapped, "You'll have wasted your life away sitting here, waiting! Don't you want to _live_? Experience life? If she never wakes up, all you can say you've done is sit here and wait for nothing to happen. Now, I'm trying to give you the opportunity to have an exciting life, but you don't want it!"

"I've had enough excitement for a lifetime," Fang said. I heard Lavender scoff and then her footsteps faded away.

I opened my eyes, expecting to see Fang looked towards the door with a confused or sad look on his face, but instead they were focused on me. "You're a-," Fang started to say, but that was all he got out because I interrupted him.

"You need to eat," I snapped.

Fang looked away with a look only I could decipher as embarrassment. After a long silence, he said, "How much did you hear?"

"I was listening for the entire time Lavender and Parvati were here," I said, "You _need_ to eat!" I repeated.

"I wasn't hungry," Fang said quietly.

I sighed and said, "I've been here for _a week_?" Fang nodded. "But where are Angel, Nudge and Gazzy?"

"Breakfast," Fang said, "We were…starting to think you wouldn't wake up. They kind of fell into routine. They sleep in the Gryffindor dorms and go to class and eat breakfast. They like it."

"What about Iggy?" I asked.

"He's been hanging out with Parvati a lot," Fang answered, "They're just friends like, uh, Lavender said. He hangs out here with me during Parvati's classes, and wanders around the grounds the rest of the time."

"How about you?" I asked.

Fang looked away to avoid my eyes and then looked back, "How are you feeling?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Fine. But you didn't answer my question," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Fang? Is Miss Ride awake?" I heard Madam Pomfrey say.

"Yes," Fang answered. Madam Pomfrey bustled over.

"How do you feel, honey?" she asked.

"OK," I answered, not breaking my glare at Fang.

"Can you be more specific?" her eyes darted to Fang, and I wondered what they'd talked about when I'd been unconscious.

I sighed heavily and said, "I feel weak. Like I have no energy at all. And hungry."

Madam Pomfrey smiled kindly, "Why don't you try standing up, dear? If you feel alright, you can go to dinner with Fang." She looked to Fang and examined him.

I swung my legs and began to stand, feeling strength come from every part of me. I stood and felt a little dizzy, but otherwise OK. I looked to Madam Pomfrey for permission to go to breakfast. She looked a little weary about letting me go, but said it would be OK and then whispered something in Fang's ear that I'd bet a million dollars was, "Keep an eye on her."

Fang and I walked in silence to the Great Hall. As soon as we entered the door, every single person in that stupid room fell silent and stared at us. Then, as me and Fang began to walk to the Gryffindor table, at the exact same time, they all began to speak in hushed tones. We found Hermione, Ron and Harry easily and I squeezed between Fang and Harry. I began to spoon a mountain of eggs onto my plate.

"Did you really see You-Know-Who?" a girl down the table from me asked.

"Who?" I asked, bewildered.

"You-Know-Who!" she repeated, "Did you see him?"

I looked around blankly and said, "Who's You-Know-Who?"

"Everyone's saying you saw You-Know-Who in the Forbidden Forest! Is it true?" another girl cried.

"I don't know about a You-Know-Who, but I saw Voldemort," I said, still puzzled.

There was a collective gasp at the table. The only people who didn't gasp were me, Fang and Harry.

"What?" I asked. I stopped chewing the toast I'd been eating.

"You said his name!" Ron squeaked.

"Yeah. So?" I said slowly.

Everyone at the table looked too surprised to speak. Except Harry. Harry's face looked halfway between "Ha ha I told you so" and sincerity. After a minute or two's silence, Harry spoke, "They're all afraid to speak Voldemort's name."

"Why?" it was Fang who spoke.

"I haven't the slightest clue," Harry said, beginning to cut his sausage.

I ate the rest of my meal in silence, pretty much. No one talked to me and I definitely wasn't in the mood to talk to them.

**-------------------------------------------------------**

**I made a website to talk to yall about my life and my stories! Please go to it! If no one goes to it I will be very very sad!!!! The URL is on my profile page because it's not coming up here! I will love you guys forever if you go there!**

**That concludes this chapter! I had another cross country meet last Thursday. I took 31****st**** out of, like, 60 people. My time was 25:31 and it was 3 miles! And whoever told me that I ran slow because I ran 1.5 miles in 15 something minutes, shut up! There was a hill on that course that would've kicked your ass, too! It would've been faster if that damned hill hadn't been there!**

**Much Love**

**Alyson May Who's Pissed At The Person Who Told Her She Ran Slow**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling and I'm **_**DEFINITELY**_** not James Patterson, thus I do not own Harry Potter or Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 11**

I looked around, confused, at all of the faces. Some still looked shocked. Some looked confused. After no one spoke, I said, "But _why?_ I mean, I'm trying to imagine how it would feel to say You-Know-What instead of Erasers. I just don't see a point."

"Yes, but we kill Erases within two seconds," Iggy pointed out. I blinked at him. I'd forgotten he was there.

"True, but still!" I cried, "They carry weapons of friggin' mass destruction!"

"I still say we should carry guns," Fang muttered. I glared at him.

Breakfast ended and I saw two girls jump up and race over to Iggy and Fang. Correction: one girl raced and the other walked. The first girl came directly to Fang and cried, "Hi, Fang! Hi, Iggy! Fang, you ready to go to class? Now that Max is awake, there's no reason not to, _right?_" She said this entire paragraph within a matter of seconds. Looking toward me, she smiled a toothy grin that I couldn't help but think was artificial and cried, "Glad you're up, Max!"

The second girl reached the boys and said, "Iggy, would you like to go to class with us?"

Iggy glanced from Parvati to Hermione with an unsure look on his face, but when he noticed Hermione not paying attention, he said, "Sure, Parvati. That sounds like fun." Parvati smiled in a friendly way.

"Sure, got nothing better to do," Fang muttered. He followed her, Parvati and Iggy out of the Great Hall without a backward glance at the Gryffindor table.

"Why do you look so shocked?" a boy who looked younger than Harry but not too much asked me. **(A/N: It's Colin Creevey peeps! As was the kid in the start of Chapter 9!)**

"Huh?"

"Not so much shocked as surprised and annoyed," the boy observed.

I fought back an urge to say 'F you' and simply said, "I didn't know I did."

"Well, you do," the boy said, "Is it Iggy? Do you like Iggy and you're mad that he's going off with another girl? Is that it?"

I wanted to tell him 'F you' again, but this time I wouldn't've said F. I sighed to prevent myself from screaming at him and said, "No, that's not it," as calmly as I could.

The boy smiled, "Yes it is. I can tell. You like him."

"Fuck you!" I muttered under my breath, unable to resist the urge any longer. The boy continued to smile like the devil, obviously not unnerved by my anger.

Pissed off all over again, I stood up from the table and walked out of the Great Hall. I found my way out of the castle and practically ran out onto the grounds. I took a deep breath and kicked a rock with all my might to relieve my frustration. It hit a tree and left a little indentation, but I was still ticked.

In heard the doors open behind me and saw Hermione come out. I sighed angrily and turned my back on her. "Max?" she said quietly, "Max? What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" I snapped.

She came over to me and put her hand on my arm in a reassuring way, "You can tell me, you know. If it's about F-" I grumbled as she began to say 'Fang' and then she stopped and continued, "If it's about _a boy_, I won't tell anybody."

"It's not about a boy!" I snapped.

"OK, it's not about a boy," she said.

"It's not," I said, feeling the need to _really_ pound in the point.

"It's not about a boy. Got it. So, since it's not about a boy, what is it about?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing," I snapped, but my voice was less intense this time.

She sighed and a strange look crossed her face. She looked at me and said, "Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Since nothing's wrong and it's _definitely _not about a boy," she started, "Well, Harry wanted me to ask you something."

"What? What did he want to ask me?" I asked.

"Well, there's a trip to Hogsmeade, which is the completely wizard town just off the Hogwarts grounds, and Harry wanted me to ask you if you would go with him," she said. She avoided my eyes and I think I saw her cheeks turn the slightest bit pink with embarrassed.

"Like as friends?" I said, confused.

"No, not as friends," she said, "As…um…well, like a date, actually."

I felt my heart rate start to pick up as I thought about going on a date with Harry. A date. My second date. Wow…

"Max?" Hermione asked, concerned.

"Sorry. Thinking. Hang on," I said.

It would be weird going on a date with Harry. I mean, I'd always thought Ron had been the one who liked me, although he had backed off a little now that we knew each other better, but I'd never noticed Harry acting strange around me. Although, I hadn't known Harry for that long, so I couldn't truthfully say that I knew everything about him and his mannerisms and stuff, but he didn't act like normal boys did when they liked girls.

I suppressed a laugh as I thought about how my knowledge of 'normal boys' came from watching episodes of Full House, Boy Meets World and other 90's sitcoms.

On the plus side, maybe if I went out with Harry, that kid at lunch would leave me alone about Fang…

I smiled and said, "Could you tell Harry that I say yes?"

Hermione nodded, but again there was a look on her face that was a little off, "Yeah, sure. No problem."

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------**

**OK, sorry it's so short, but it's like 9:30 PM so I have to get off the computer now and I think here is a good place to stop. And now, my rantings shall begin.**

**Number One: I want my friends to stop telling me that my boobs are big!!! Dammit, I know this fact, I see no need to point it out every single freaking day! Seriously, my friend came up to me two days ago and was like, "Oh my God, did your boobs get **_**bigger**_**?" Then she and Mandy tried to friggin grab my boobs to see if they were squishy…**

**Number Two: I can't tell you guys where I live. Sorry. It's a security thing, so PLEASE stop asking. I feel bad every time you do…**

**Number Three: Had a cross country meet last night. It was a REALLY hard course! It went all through the woods and it had holes and roots and crap. When we went through to see where it went, I tripped in a hole and twisted my ankle, but it wasn't bad enough to have to skip the race…it's better now. But Oh my God, when we raced, I didn't trip ONCE throughout the entire woody part, then we get out to the paved part, and I trip over my own feet! The track was 3.1 miles long (but God it seemed so much longer!) and I took 31st with a time of 27 minutes, 13 seconds.**

**Number Four: Yesterday in Drama, we had to do a pantomime and our group did Hansel and Gretel, but the funniest one was The Three Little Pigs. So, they went through the pig with the straw and the pig with the sticks, and then you get to the bricks and the wolf, Kyle, knocks on the door, and the pigs inside motion, "No, you can't come in," you know, shaking their heads and such, and then Kyle knocks again and this time he's angry. So, Pig With Straw and Pig With Sticks shake their heads but Pig With Bricks shakes his hands and then flips off Kyle right in the middle of class! It was HILARIOUS!!!**

**Number Five: I congratulate anyone who actually read my entire A/N! Sorry it's so long, but it's like my own little diary…:P**

**Anyways, here's the important part: I have school, I have sports, I have friends, I have homecoming (no date though) so if I don't post, that's why. Review and PM me so much that it drives me crazy and it might speed me up! G2G byes!!!!!!!**

**-Ugh I have a headache from staring at the screen too long!-**

**-Alyson May Who Got a Cold And Hates Her Bro Jack Who Gave It To Her-**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harry. Don't own Maxie. Bored out of my mind. Don't give a damn.**

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter 12**

Hermione glanced up at the castle and sighed, "Oh, I have to get to class. I'll see you at lunch, then?"

"Yeah," I answered. I watched as she hurried up to the castle and then turned to look at the lake. Suddenly a thought entered my mind: What was my mom doing right now?

Where was Voldemort?

My heart ached as I thought about my morning. I shouldn't be here at Hogwarts when my mom was over a thousand miles away, unguarded from an evil bald dude who would make _me_ cry if I saw him again. I raced back into the castle and up several flights of stairs until I reached what I knew was Dumbledore's office.

"Crap!" I cried. I didn't know the password. The door was simply a statue. How did I even knock? I thought back to that day I'd gone to Professor Dumbledore's office before. Had it been the first day or the second? "Um…froggy fudge? No. Spider sucker. No…um…" I thought hard and finally said, in a desperate last attempt, "Tarantula toffee?"

The statue came to life and a staircase was revealed before me. I sighed in relief and bolted up the steps. I reached the door at the top and pounded on it. It swung open and I slid across Dumbledore's floor.

"Miss Ride?" he asked. He sounded surprised but not overly shocked, "To what do I owe this…"

"What about my mom?" I asked, interrupting him.

"Your mom?" he asked, "Ah. Yes, Valencia Martinez. What about her, Miss Ride?"

"Is she OK?" I asked, then corrected myself, "But there's no way you could know that. I mean, what's going to be done to help her? She's no ultimate fighter, and I don't even think Chuck Norris could fight that man off."

Dumbledore chuckled. This irritated me. "Miss Ride, you don't think we'd have let Valencia Martinez unguarded, do you?"

I blinked twice. Well, yes, I did. With the treatment I'd had in my life, that was exactly what I'd expected.

Dumbledore chuckled again and said, "Let me assure you that Dr. Martinez is perfectly safe in every aspect of her life."

"And Ella?" I asked.

"Yes, Ella is perfectly safe."

I sighed heavily, feeling a great weight lifted off my shoulders. We stood staring into one another's eyes for a while. After a long time, I nodded, acknowledging that my mother and half-sister were not going to be killed by a hella pissed-off white guy. **((A/N: Haha! My science teacher came up with that one! If you don't turn your homework in, you face the wrath of hella pissed-off white guy! Pretty much it's a little plastic finger puppet.))**

"Is that all you wanted to ask me, Miss Ride?" Dumbledore asked.

Stared at the floor, thinking. Finally, I said, "Angel can't read your mind."

Dumbledore chuckled again, "That's not a question."

"No. But she can't."

"No, she can't."

"Why not?"

Dumbledore looked at me for a moment before saying, "Occlumency."

"What?"

"Wizards and witches can learn to block people out of their minds if they work hard enough. That's why Angel cannot read my mind," he paused, "She's very used to always knowing what people are thinking, isn't she?"

I nodded and didn't say anything. After a long silence, Dumbledore said, "Anything else, Miss Ride?"

"Um, yeah. When's the next trip to Hogsmeade?" I asked.

Dumbledore chuckled, "The students will be leaving at five PM tonight."

"OK, thanks. Well, I should go," I said. I hopped out of my chair and nearly raced to the door, only partially stopping to say goodbye.

My heart pounded as I ran to the Gryffindor girls' dormitory. I expected I'd be alone there, but instead I found Lavender and Parvati spread out among books on their beds. I deep-sighed and lied down on Hermione's bed face-first.

"Um, is something wrong?" I looked up to see Parvati staring at me. Lavender was staring out the window with a bored look on her face.

"No," I lied. I buried my face into the pillow and tried to calm myself down.

"Are you sure?" Parvati asked.

-pause- "No," I said, though it came out muffled through the pillow. I sat up, looked suspiciously at them and said, "Why aren't you in class?"

"We don't have class until after lunch today," Parvati answered. Lavender continued to stare out the window. Parvati continued, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Are you going to Hogsmeade today?" I asked.

"Yes," Parvati answered, "Why?"

"So am I," I said.

"Alone?"

"Um…no…" I stared at my shoes. It was then I noticed there was a hole in them. I guess I'd need some new ones.

"With Fang?" Lavender asked. Her voice had needles in it.

"No. I don't know if he's going or not…"

"Hermione, Ron and Harry?" Parvati guessed. Lavender had now turned away from the window and was now watching me with interest.

"Um…just Harry," I answered.

"That's true!" Lavender exploded.

"What's true?"

"The rumor!" Lavender seemed fully interested now, "I heard that you were going out with Harry tonight, but I figured it was just a rumor. I thought you and Fang were going…"

"So you think it's a good idea?" I asked.

"I think it's an _excellent_ idea!" Lavender smiled. I was doubtful of trusting her opinion, but who else could I turn to?

I nodded. I thought about saying 'but I don't like Harry that way' but I figured, Lavender was just now starting to acknowledge my existence, so I might as well take advantage of it. So instead, I said, "Um…OK. Thanks for the advice." My voice sounded dead.

………………………………………………………

**I usually try to post on the weekends, but I didn't have time this week! I went to a cross country meet and ran 3 miles in 25 minutes 5 seconds! Yay me! –does the clap that Brenda Song does on The Suite Life- I'd like to congratulate redfeatherz for your amazing time on your cross country course! GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK, well, I'm getting a little stuck on ideas, but I'll keep going for as long as possible on what I have. YOUR IDEAS ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED!!!!!!!!**

**Now my life!**

**1) I asked a boy to Homecoming. My best guy friend, actually. He said no…I cried… :'( anyway, we're still friends, but I heard he likes one of my best friends and she doesn't like him that way so HA HA!!!!!!!!!**

**2) I was in Health today and we were discussing nutrition and then Sheri leans over to me and says "Why isn't sugar a vegetable? Or chocolate?" And she's right! They come from plants! But then I guess you could say the same thing about marijuana…**

**OK, well, I gotta go write chapter 2 of Minutes to Midnight! Oh, and I note to all you My Favorite Mistake readers, it may not be updated for a while, because I got major writer's block on that one. Whoopsies. But if you PM me it might help! 'Might' being the operative word…**

**-Bite me, Edward!-**

**-Alyson May Who is on Page 2 of Wuthering Heights-**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. Or Harry Potter. Or Soulja Boy which I am listening to.**

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter 13**

I took a deep breath and glanced nervously at the door. It was 4:27. Harry said he'd come to the Gryffindor common room at 4:30 to pick me up and we'd be on our way to Hogsmeade. I'd spent the afternoon talking to Parvati and Lavender. Parvati and I'd become pretty good friends, and Lavender _talked_ to me at least. I still don't think she likes me.

I looked at the clock again. 4:29. God, it felt like there were butterflies in my stomach. Why was I so nervous? I'd sat by Harry for the past week and nothing bad had happened.

"Hey," I heard. I looked up, surprised, and saw Harry standing beside the door, a smile on his face.

"Hi!" I said. I stood up and straightened the jeans I was wearing.

"You ready to go?" he asked. I nodded. I followed him to where the kids were meeting, and, from there, to Hogsmeade.

"So, where do you want to go?" Harry asked once we were there.

"Um, I don't know," I answered, "Anywhere is fine."

"How about Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop?" Harry asked. He pointed to a small store front painted pink with hearts all over it. I fought an urge to laugh at its frilliness. I shook my head.

"How about not?" I said, "What else is there?"

"Well, there's the sweet shop over there," Harry pointed, "There's The Three Broomsticks and The Hog's Head – they're pubs – and then over there is the joke shop…" He paused and looked at me, "There's really anything you could imagine here. Please don't make me explain it."

I laughed and said, "Um, one of the pubs sounds great."

Harry smiled. Obviously nervous, he took my hand and led me into The Three Broomsticks. We sat at a table, and he ordered up two butterbeers. I sipped at mine at first, but then drank it faster as it warmed me up.

"So," I said, just wanting to break the silence.

Harry smiled and sighed. "So," he repeated

This was followed by silence. I couldn't think of anything to say. I'd already told him my life story. What could we talk about?

"So, Voldemort brought something up that I kinda wanted to ask you about," I began. Several people around me stared at me with shocked faces when I said "Voldemort" as if I dropped an f-bomb or something, but I ignored them.

Harry looked up from his butterbeer to meet my eyes, "What's that?"

"He mentioned your scar," I said quietly, "He said he gave you the scar on your forehead. But when I asked him why, he told me it was a personal question and wouldn't answer."

"Do you really want to know?" Harry asked me. I nodded, so he told me. **((A/N: I'll skip the explanation. Once again, I'm trusting that most of you have read/watched the Harry Potter series, so you SHOULD know the story by now!))**

When he finished, I wished I had a way to comfort him, but every word I thought of seemed incredibly inappropriate. "Wow" was all I could think to say.

Harry nodded at my wonderful word choice (note sarcasm) and said, "I know."

"I'm sorry," I said. Words were coming easier now, but these words still seemed horribly wrong. He said nothing so I said, "Hey, next time I see him, I'll try my very best to kill him, alright?"

Harry laughed and I knew why. I wasn't even ashamed (well, a little bit) to admit that Voldemort could kill me much easier than I could kill him. I looked into my butterbeer and sighed.

We were quiet a long time before Harry said, "Tell me about your family."

"My family?" I asked.

"Yeah," Harry said, "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, but it beats sitting here not saying anything."

I laughed, but it was an anxious laugh, not one of humor. Finally, I began. "Well, Angel's six, and as you know, she can read minds…" I started, but Harry interrupted me.

"I know their powers, Max, I meant their lives and such."

"Oh," I said, "OK. We don't know much about Angel and Gazzy – they're brother and sister, by the way – except that their parents sold them to the company, Itex, for money. Nudge learned her real name about a year ago. It's Monique. She tried to find her parents one time in Arizona, but we never really found out if the woman she saw was her mom or not. Iggy found his parents a while back, but it…didn't work out. And that's an understatement."

"I'm sorry," Harry said.

"Yeah," I said, "Who do I have left?"

"Fang."

"Fang," I repeated, "Yeah. Fang…" I looked up, noticing that the door had opened and a certain black-haired bird boy had walked in, followed by Lavender. Lavender was practically floating, but Fang looked totally bored.

Lavender spotted us, and she beamed and came over. "HI!" she almost shouted, "Odd for you to pick here to go on a date, of all places! Fangy and I were just over at Madam Puddifoot's but we wanted to come see who all was here!" She hung off Fang like a bat from a tree. This annoyed me to no end, but I put on a fake smile and managed to keep it up while Harry talked.

"Um, actually, if you were done, Max, we could go somewhere else," Harry said. The phrase sounded awkward.

"Alright," I stood and the four of us walked out of the pub.

"Do you want to see the Shrieking Shack?" Lavender asked. She tugged Fang close to her as she said her words.

I hoped the wince that I made wasn't too noticeable. I took a second to recollect myself and answered. "Um, OK. What is it?"

"A haunted house," Harry explained. We began to walk up the street to a very old looking house. Lavender kept glancing at Fang and me like we were going to jump up 10 feet in fright.

We stopped before the house and Lavender looked from me to Fang excitedly, "Well?!"

I nodded, knowing Fang wouldn't answer unless directly asked a question. "Cool," I said.

Lavender's shoulders dropped in disappointment, "Aren't you scared? Fang?"

"Not really," Fang said.

I felt like saying, "We've seen worse" but I didn't.

"Wow," Lavender said, "The first time I saw it, I was so scared I ran away screaming!" I looked at Harry to see his reaction. He didn't look so scared either. He looked kind of distant, as if he were remembering something that he wanted to tell but couldn't…

"Students! Please report back to your Head of House immediately!" I looked over to see Professor McGonagall rounding up the students to leave.

"Oh, shoot," Lavender said, "I promised Parvati I'd spend some time with her! I gotta go! See you lot later!" She ran off toward Parvati, who was looking kinda sad.

"We should go too, I guess," I said awkwardly.

"So soon?" I heard the sneering voice come from behind me. I whirled to face Ari, half-transformed and smirking down at me. He wasn't alone either. Behind him were at least a dozen Erasers.

Fang lunged forward, punching Ari in the nose and skyrocketing him backward. He slammed into a tree, but was up before I knew it, showing that no permanent damage was done. An Eraser aimed a blow at my head, but I dodged it. I swung my legs beneath his and he crashed to the ground, unconscious. I was just about to turn around when I felt something hard crash against the back of my head, disorienting me but not knocking me out.

I tried to stand, but my vision blurred and I had to fight to remain conscious. I turned unsteadily and saw Harry with his wand out picking off the Erasers with ease. For some reason, this pissed me off. _I _was supposed to be the one doing that. Instead, I was standing here, watching. But what could I do? It's not like it's a smart idea to walk up to someone in the middle of a fight and tell them to let you be the one to kick someone else's ass.

I shook my head to shake the dizziness, and turned to look at Fang and Ari, locked in battle. I looked there only for a little bit, because something else attracted my attention.

A chopper was landing nearby, spraying bits of dust and limbs at all of us. It landed and a man climbed out and walked towards us. He looked familiar. Too familiar.

"Ari! Vhy are you disobeying me?" he said.

"Sorry, ter Borcht," Ari mumbled, and backed off. Erasers came off the chopper and held Fang and I, keeping us from attacking.

"I said to bring zem alive! Not beaten and mangled!" ter Borcht shouted.

"It won't happen again," Ari said, "They started it, though, I was just protecting…"

"Silence!" ter Borcht yelled, "Get on ze plane! I don't want to hear anymore of your excuses!"

Ari shot a glare at both me and Fang and climbed onto the chopper.

"Now that he is gone," ter Borcht said, "I have some business to clear up with ze two of you." He snapped his fingers and the Erasers lifted us, carrying us onto the plane.

I squirmed but didn't say anything. What could I say to make them let go? I doubted any heartfelt talk would change their minds.

I glanced around madly as a thought came to mind: where was Harry? I'd seen him just a second ago…

I didn't have time to look, because the Erasers suddenly released us, jumped around madly. I looked at their feet.

Fire danced around their toes. I laughed hysterically for just a few seconds and then I saw Harry. "Max! Fang! _Run!!!!_" he shouted at us. Running. Oh, yes. Running would be _very _smart. I tore off in the direction of the town center, passing ter Borcht, who was also jumping wildly.

"_Damn_ it!" I shouted, "Both Voldemort _and_ ter Borcht are after me! Could today get any worse?"

"Max! Max!" I heard, and immediately recognized the voice as Angel's.

"What, honey?" I asked, pointing forward to indicate her to follow us.

"It's Iggy!" Angel shouted. She was flustered and out of breath, so her answers came out short.

"What's Iggy?" I asked, my tension immediately skyrocketing, "What's wrong with Iggy?"

"He's _gone!_" Angel cried.

**-insert evil laugh here- But tis over! You shall have to wait to find out! Sorry I haven't posted in forever. I've had this started for forever, but my entire FF posts were put on hold because I lost the USB stick that had all of my stories saved on it – including chapter 5 of Minutes to Midnight. It pretty much sucks ass, but I can't do a damn thing about that!**

**I've also been thinking a lot about life. How sucky it is to be a teenager in America.**

**-AlyMay Who Wants Someone To Love-**


	14. Chapter 14

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter 14**

I stopped short running. "Iggy's…gone?" I asked.

"Max!" Fang shouted, pulling me back into reality.

I gasped and took off running again. "What about the others?" I asked.

"Everyone else is here," Angel replied, "Iggy was hanging out with Parvati between periods, and the Erasers came and took him!"

"_Damn_ it!" I shouted, "The Eraser attack was just a distraction so we wouldn't notice them taking Iggy! How could I be so _stupid_?" I glanced over my shoulder and saw the jet taking off behind me and Harry running toward us. I skidded in the dirt and turned.

"Max, what are you doing?" Fang shouted.

"Maybe if I go fast enough, I can catch him!" I cried. I took a jump into the air and was just about to pour on the speed when I felt something drag me down. That something pinned me to the ground despite my desperate attempt to get away.

"LET ME _GO!_" I demanded.

"No."

The voice made me stop moving and look up. Fang was holding me down. I looked up at him and snapped, "They're getting away!"

"They _want_ you to follow them," he said in an even voice, "They _want_ you to go after them so they can get you, too."

"I know that," I said quietly, "But I have to try." Even as I said that, I didn't struggle. What use would it be? Fang had me pinned to the ground. I looked away from his eyes, my heart breaking. "Poor Iggy…" I said quietly.

Fang moved, and for a second I thought he was letting me go. I prepared myself to dash off, but he simply shifted himself so he could hug me. I buried my head in his shoulder and squinted my eyes shut tight so I wouldn't cry.

"You understand, don't you?" Fang asked.

I nodded into his shoulder. I knew that they just wanted me to follow. I just wish it wasn't true. I wished I was strong enough to not only break free from Fang's grasp, but also to get to the School and break Iggy out on my own. I knew I was neither. And that pissed me off.

I sat in Fang's arms for the longest time, just thinking. Eventually, I looked up and saw the black sky. "We should get back," I mumbled. It was late and I was tired.

"Alright," I think I heard him reply. But I'm not sure, because that was when I fell asleep…

FANG POV

Max finally calmed down and we sat for hours in the cool air. Just as I was about to mention that it was getting late and we should leave, I heard Max say very quietly, "We should get back."

"Alright," I smiled. I let go of her and she fell over. She was asleep. I chuckled to myself and lifted her from the grass. I carried her to the castle in silence.

I looked down at her face and wished I had a free hand to brush the hair from her eyes. It looked light brown in the dim moonlight, but almost blue from the moon reflecting off the lake.

I got to the castle and used my foot to open the door. It was a _very_ long way to the dorms, but I had no other choice but to take her there. I went up the first two flights of stairs undisturbed with the exception of a few ghosts. It was the third flight of stairs where I came into some trouble.

It was a blonde guy, tall and lanky, with two equally tall but much more muscular and – let's face it – fat than the smaller boy, although he seemed to be the leader. They stopped in my way.

"Is she dead?" the blonde boy asked, his voice sounding more hopeful than it should.

"No," I answered, ice dripping from just that one word, "She's sleeping. You should try it. The bags under your eyes are reaching vampire quality."

"Concerned with beauty," the boy said, "Are you gay or something?"

"I really would've thought you'd be beyond gay jokes," I countered.

"You don't know me," the boy snapped.

"I don't want to know you," I snapped back, "If you'll move, Max isn't exactly lightweight." I took a step forward, but one of the back guys shoved me back. I stumbled and regained balance. I glared at the boy. "Who _are_ you?"

"Draco Malfoy," the boy said, "I don't like your girlfriend."

"Not my girlfriend," I snapped. There was a touch of longing in my tone. How the hell did _that_ get there?

Malfoy put up his hands in mock apology. "Sorry," Malfoy said, "And who are you?"

"Name's Fang."

"You a freak like her?" Malfoy asked. He began to pace me, but the two taller boys kept me from passing.

"I'm not any more of a freak than you."

"Touche," Malfoy said.

It was quiet for a while. I glared at him as he came around to meet my eyes again. "If you're done," I said, "I need to get Max to the dorm room." I again tried to push past him, but was stopped. I took a deep breath.

"Not so fast," Malfoy said, "I was just getting to know you. So, why was Max here first?"

"None of your business," I snapped.

A fist came flying at me from the right, but I ducked before it made contact. The other thug came at me from the left and tackled me. With Max in my arms, I couldn't do a thing, so he tackled me and pulled Max away from me. The other big guy held me down. I used my foot to kick Max's shin and she shook awake…

MAX POV

_I was walking down a pier. I had this truly fantastic dress on. It was red sundress, very simple, but yet very pretty. My hair was curled slightly and not messy at all. I walked to the edge of the pier and leaned on the fence surrounding it. I stared out at the sea, closed my eyes, and breathed in the smell of the salt. I smiled. Everything was perfect._

_I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked over to see who it was. It was Fang. He had on blue jean cut-offs and an orange tank-top. His black hair laid in a perfect mess atop his head. He placed his arm around my waist and I leaned my head on his shoulder._

"_You look…so beautiful," Fang noted._

_I smiled, looked up at him, and kissed his cheek softly._

"_You wanna go for a ride?" he asked._

"_In what?" I laughed._

"_Look."_

_I looked out at the ocean and there, at the end of the dock, was a little boat. Not fancy, but perfect. I nodded. He took my hand and led me to the end, where we got into the boat. Fang, with his newly harnessed boat-driving skills, got it going and then came back to me._

"_Max, I need to tell you something," he said, just whispering._

_I whispered, too, "What?"_

_We leaned in close, and just as Fang was about to tell me whatever it was he needed to say, the boat lurched. A giant sea monster came out of the water and pointed its three eyes at us. It knocked the boat several times, then used its long tentacle (and it had six of them) to take me out of the boat._

"_FANG!" I screamed._

"_Max!" Fang shouted back._

_The monster shook me about, then slammed me into the side of the boat. For some reason, I only felt the pain of it in my shin…_

I blinked awake and looked around me groggily. Someone had the nape of my shirt and was holding me. It took me a second to orientate myself. Damn this comfortable living and my being able to sleep in! That was why I couldn't just wake up quickly like I used to be able to!

I looked into two blue eyes. At first I thought it was Angel. But Angel's hair was longer. And she wasn't as tall.

Then I recognized him.

"Malfoy," I growled.

"You know him?" I heard Fang say. I gasped and saw Fang, also being held by the back of his shirt.

"Unfortunately," I didn't glance his way. My entire attention was directed at Malfoy, "Still terrorizing the school, Malfoy? Can't get enough recognition with your magic, so you have to pick on innocent bystanders?"

"But you're not so innocent, are you?" he asked, "I was waiting for you to wake up. You're a deep sleeper. You slept all the way through an argument."

"Fang can hold his own," I snapped.

"Yeah, but can you?" he asked, "Let her go, Doyle. I want to see if you can take both Crabbe _and_ Doyle." He pointed his wand at Fang and my heart jumped ten feet in the air. What would they do to him?! But he simply said a mess of words and Fang's arms snapped to his sides, unable to move at all.

Doyle came over to me and was just about to throw his first punch when Malfoy said, "Stop!" He came over to me and withdrew a roll of duct tape from his robes, "Almost forgot."

"What's that, Malfoy?" Crabbe asked.

"Muggle invention," Malfoy said, "They use it to stick things together. They call it duct tape. Lift your arms." I did so. He wrapped the tape across my chest and around my back several times, making it unable for me to fly. It sucked, but I couldn't get down because of it. I had to _win_.

"OK. Go," Malfoy said.

Doyle threw his punch, but I ducked before he was able to do anything at all. I swung my legs around his ankles and he crashed to the floor. I smiled. They were very muscular, but they were also fatty and large and I could use that against them.

The other idiot – Crabbe – came at me from the other side while Doyle was getting up. Crabbe threw himself at me, sumo style, but I rolled to the side and he landed on Doyle, full force. Crabbe rolled over and I jumped on top of him. I punched him so hard, his neck was cracking back and forth. That gave me both a new joy and a sick feeling in my stomach. It reminded me of when I'd killed Ari for the first time.

I lost my attention for one second and Crabbe threw me off of him. I flew down the stairs to the landing below. I jumped to my feet and sprinted the rest of the way down the stairs. "What a baby!" I heard Malfoy scream up above, "See that, Fang? Your girlfriend is just a wuss." Then I heard someone say, "Oof!" and Malfoy laugh. _FANG!_ I thought, but the thugs were behind me and I couldn't turn back.

I took a chance to glance behind me. Crabbe and Doyle were two flights up. I jumped over the banister and held on, invisible to anyone who didn't look hard enough. I waited. I heard a scream come from above, but it wasn't in pain or sadness. It was an angry scream. Soon after, I heard another scream. This one _was_ from pain, but it sounded much too high pitch to be Fang's. I brought my attention back to my own situation when I heard footsteps on the flight above my head.

Crabbe and Doyle came around the corner. They ran down the stairs, past me, and kept on going. They would probably go all the way to the bottom, maybe further, before they realized I was nowhere nearby.

I waited a little longer until the running footsteps died away, then crawled back over the railing and began racing up the stairs. I got up two floors and saw Malfoy on the ground with Fang knelt over him, thoroughly kicking his ass.

I giggled and ran up to meet him.

He glanced up when I was three feet away and said, "I'm almost done." He stood and gave one more swift kick in Malfoy's side and together we ran up to the Gryffindor common room. We got inside, then collapsed on the couches, laughing.

After our laughing fit, we composed ourselves and I said, "Oh, how can I be this happy when Iggy is in hell?"

Fang stopped abruptly. At first I thought he would say something like, "Now, why would you bring that up now?" But instead, he sighed and said, "I know. It's…surreal. Not having him here."

"What should we do?"

Fang was quiet a long time. Finally he mumbled so quietly I almost didn't hear him, "I don't want to sit here and pretend like nothing's happened. It _has_. And I know if we were anywhere _but_ here, we'd be halfway to the School by now."

I nodded, unable to say anything. It didn't seem like I needed to. I laid my head back on the couch's pillow and within minutes I was asleep again…

**xXxXxXx**

**Sorry it's been so freakin long since I last updated. But I finally sat down and wrote out a little outline for this story, so (hopefully) I'll be updating more often. Yeah, I know I say that every time, but FINALLY there is an end in sight! I'm predicting possibly nine more chapters? I don't know. We'll see.**

_**-I don't go a day without you passing through my thoughts a million times.-**_

_**-Scratch that. I don't go a day without you dominating my thoughts a million times.-**_

_**-Love you. Miss you. Wanna kiss you.-**_

_**-**__**Alyson May Who is Hopelessly in Love…**__**-**_


	15. Chapter 15

**L'esonero dalle responsabiilita: Non possiedo la Passeggiata Massima o Saccheggio il Vasaio.**

**Hehe that's Italian! If you care to translate directly for me, please do.**

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter 15**

I woke up the next morning beside Fang on the couch. I sat up and looked around to see what time it was and to see if anyone else was in the common room. According to the clock, it was 8 o' clock. According to my observations, the only one in the room besides me and Fang was a girl studying at the desk. I elbowed Fang and he shook awake. Without any words spoken, we stood together and walked to the Great Hall.

I didn't expect the chaos that we met when we got there.

Two things appeared to be happening. First, people (girls, mostly) were freaking out about Iggy's disappearance. The second – and less important in my mind – was all of the Slytherins waiting for me to beat me up. I didn't care about them. I had all of Gryffindor and my flock behind me. So, instead of worrying about that, Fang and I walked calmly to where the flock was seated and sat.

"Max!" Nudge cried, "Oh, Max, you were gone yesterday and I thought they'd taken you, too!"

"Fang and I were just in the common room this morning, Nudge. Didn't you see us?" I asked.

"Well, yeah, but last night? Oh my God that was the worst night I've ever had!" Nudge gasped. She took a short breath and continued, "Iggy is gone, Max! Angel said she told you but I didn't know if she actually did or not!" She babbled on about how bad it was. I tuned her out momentarily and gave Angel a hug. I listened again when I heard her say, "But we have to _do_ something! You have a plan, right? What's the plan?"

"There is no plan."

It was Angel who spoke, not me. I looked at her sadly and sighed. Then I turned to the flock and said, "We can't just rush in there, guys. They'll take us, too. Those Erasers were _strong_. I think they got an upgrade. We're going to have to…wait it out. Until we're strong enough to charge."

"Why don't we just take them" she gestured to the table behind her, "and they can take care of them?"

Again, Hermione interrupted me before I got a chance to explain myself. Luckily, she had the same views as I did: "We can't have the whole world find out about us."

"Yeah," Ron agreed, "We'd love to help, but I doubt Dumbledore'd be OK with all of us checking out for a day to go fight some genetically mutated freaks." He blushed, realizing that his words could be taken two ways, "No offense."

"None taken," I said. "And he's right. We'll just have to wait."

"Poor Iggy," Parvati said. I hadn't realized she was there. I looked over at her and was shocked to see that she was crying, "He's going to be hurt and tortured. They might kill him. I don't know, I've never been there. But from what you all have said, I don't want to – ever. And yet you let Iggy stay there. He's blind, Max! He can't see all the terrible things they'll do to him! How could you? You say you're the leader. _Lead!_" She stood and faced me, screaming at me, "HE'S GOING TO DIE AND YOU DON'T EVEN CARE!"

To my surprise, Lavender stood and faced her best friend, "Parvati! How could you even say that? You're willing to risk them getting hurt? Getting killed, too? How could _you_ suggest they go when they're clearly outnumbered? What if every died? How would you feel _then_?"

"Hmph!" Parvati snapped. Then she ran out of the room.

"Is she going to be alright?" I asked Lavender.

Lavender sighed, "Yeah. She's just going up to the room to cool off."

Parvati POV

I ran out of them room, tears rolling down my face. I stopped at the front doors, leaning against them and sobbing.

No, no, no! It wasn't supposed to be this way! I wasn't supposed to feel this strong about him! I was just supposed to be his _friend_! That was all he wanted! So that was what I was going to do!

But, noooo. I had to go and get my heart mixed up in everything. And now I was in love with someone who didn't love me back. Great. Just perfect.

_I have to go after him, _I thought. And while the rational side of my brain was screaming no, the other half was screaming yes.

And the other half was the one I listened to.

So I ran to the broom shed and grabbed the crappy broom that I owned. I hopped on it and took off. I didn't really know where this School was. All I knew was west. I had to go west.

So I did.

Max POV

That afternoon, I went for a walk with Ron, Harry and Hermione, just to breathe the fresh air of the warm afternoon. But after ten minutes, Hermione left to study. And after fifteen more minutes, Ron went to ask Hermione for help to study. Which left me and Harry.

Awkward…

"So…about our date…" I started, trailing off.

"Didn't go so well," Harry said.

"Well…yeah," I said, "I didn't want to be rude."

"It was just…weird," Harry said, "I thought it was just me. I guess we just aren't…"

"Compatible?" I asked.

"That's right."

There was a long silence, but this one wasn't as awkward as the one before it. This one was almost calming in the way there was just an understanding that neither of them had really had fun on the date. Finally, Harry spoke again, "So…is there something going on with you and Fang?"

I was shocked. "No."

"It seems like there…"

"No."

"Really, from an outside perspective…"

"No."

"You seem pretty close."

I let him finish the last one. I stared straight into his eyes and said clearly and slowly, "No."

"Alright."

A third silence followed. And this one _was_ awkward. I had to fill it after a long time. "Do you like anyone?" I asked.

Harry was quiet for a long time, and he was probably blushing, but I didn't look at him. "I gotta get to class," he said after a while. And he got up and left.

I chuckled to myself. We may not be romantically attracted, but we sure did make a sorry pair.

x X x X x X x

Fang had also had a conversation with Lavender. I found this out from Lavender at lunch. He'd broken it off with her. Fang wasn't there. He was reading up in the library. Some compulsion made me want to go find him, so I did.

He was leaning against the bookshelves, reading a book about mystical creatures.

"Hey," I said.

Fang looked up. "Hey," he said, and looked down at the book again. I sat down next to him.

"Is that interesting?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said.

_He really wants to show his monosyllabic side today, doesn't he?_ I thought.

"Lavender said you talked to her."

He looked up, finally closing the book. "Yeah, I did." He seemed…pissed. But…why?

"She said you broke it off," I urged him on.

"So?"

He was looking at me with cold eyes. I swallowed hard and said, "I was just wondering…why?"

"Because," he said. He opened the book again.

"Oh."

We were both quiet for a moment. I wished I had a book to look at instead of staring awkwardly at the ground as I was now. Finally, I mumbled, "I talked to Harry, too. We broke up, too."

Fang shut the book and put in on the floor next to him. I had one-hundred percent of his attention now. "Wow, I'm very sorry," he said. But he didn't sound it. His voice was thick with sarcasm.

"You sound it."

He glared at me. "Why?" he asked.

"Because. We had nothing in common. We're better as friends."

"I see," he said.

He didn't seem nearly as hostile now, so I decided to take a chance, "I told you why I broke up with Harry. You owe me. Why did you break up with Lavender?" It was a long shot, I knew, and he probably wouldn't even answer, but I had to try.

Fang was quiet a long time. I didn't know whether he was evading the question or just thinking about it. My question was answered when he finally opened his mouth to speak, "I just…didn't like her. Not in the way she liked me. A little too needy for me."

I laughed, and things became calm between us again. I grabbed a book from above my head and began to read a book called, _"Hogwarts, A History."_

**x X x X x X x**

**A lot of you asked who I'm in love with…**_**well**_** let me just say we are NOT going to go out. Not because I don't like him that way. **_**(I DO!)**_** It's that he lives in California and I live in Washington. And for all of you who don't live in the US or just don't know the west coast very much, that's about a thousand miles apart. Sucky beyond belief.**

**And before I go, I need an opinion. Should Harry…**

**A) go out with someone? (Give me suggestions if you want this to happen)**

**B) stand on his own for once**

**C) DIE.**

**Let me know!**

**-What do you say we leave for California? If we drive all night, we can make it by the morning. And no one has to know if we decide to go. What do you say we leave for California?-**

_**-**__**Alyson May Who is IMing with Sheri**__**-**_


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or Harry Potter.**

**Chapter 16**

That night, I stretched out on the couch and fell asleep. Something didn't feel right to me. I tried to shake the feeling, but it followed me into my dreams.

I woke up to someone shaking me several hours later. My eyes opened slowly and at first all I saw was black. Then I began to see an outline of a head, followed by glasses and a lightning bolt-shaped scar. Harry looked dead in his eyes.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

"Come with me," he whispered.

"Harry, it must be three AM…"

"_Come!_" he snapped.

I stood slowly and followed Harry out of the room. We went down the stairs and outside, in the woods. If I didn't trust Harry as much as I did, I wouldn't have gone. But he'd done nothing to harm me in the past, so I faithfully followed him to a clearing where a hooded figure stood.

"Very good, Harry," an all too familiar voice said. Dread filled me. I could never forget that voice, no matter how hard I tried. I looked at Harry in shock. Suddenly the blank look left his face and he looked around, frantic.

"Wha…what happened?" Harry said.

"H-H-Harry?" I muttered. In the cold air, my breath came out in smoke.

"Max," Harry said in acknowledgement. He turned from me to see Voldemort and his eyes grew cold, "Voldemort."

"Yes, Harry," Voldemort said, "You did a very good job of bringing Miss Ride here for me. Thank you."

I glared at Harry (Voldemort, too. But I hadn't trusted Voldemort like I'd trusted Harry.) "How _could_ you!" I yelled at him, "I thought we were friends! I guess all along you just wanted me dead."

"Max, no!" Harry said, "I didn't…I…it wasn't my fault!"

"Bull," I said coldly.

"He really didn't, Max," Voldemort said, "It wasn't his fault. Remember that little mind trick I played on you last time? Harry was simply obeying my every whim."

I looked at Harry, this time afraid.

"Now…to finish you off…"

"STOP!!!!" I heard. I turned to see Fang, standing in front of the rising moon with the wind blowing his hair every which way and his wings out in an eerie way.

"_Another_ freak?" Voldemort said, sounding surprised, "You should have stayed in your nest bird boy. It could've just been your little friend who gets killed tonight. Instead you choose to die alongside her." I couldn't look back at Voldemort. My eyes were locked on Fang. His eyes flashed fear and shock then went immediately back to emotionless – for the most part.

"Imperio," Voldemort muttered. Here we go again, I thought. _"Punch him," _I heard in my head, _"Punch Fang."_

"No," I whispered. Fang looked at me, confused. I wanted to tell him right then what was going on, but then I heard, _"Don't say anything. Just punch him."_

I clenched my fists. My entire body was tingling like it had just come off of being numb. My mouth quivered as I said, louder this time, "No." I lifted my head and glanced at Voldemort. He was furious (I guess he wasn't used to people not obeying his every whim).

"_Fight Fang!" _Voldemort shouted inside my head.

"No!" I said loudly. It was becoming harder and harder to resist. His will was pushing into me. If you can't imagine this, just think of standing under a bucket of water. You're trying to not breathe it in and die. It's like that.

"_PUNCH HIM!!!!!!"_ Voldemort roared inside my head.

Finally, it exploded. I turned toward Fang and threw a punch, hard, at his head. He jumped to the side and missed my punch then stood up and looked at me. His eyes searched mine for any sign of joking, but I felt something else taking over my mind.

"_Again," _I could hear Voldemort sneering inside my head as he said the world.

I was in too deep now. That was when I lost control.

**Fang POV**

I dodged Max's second punch. This one was harder to avoid than the first one, but still not as hard as I knew she could punch. She kept coming at me, but I didn't want to fight her back. She was my best friend and the girl I…never mind. I just couldn't do it, so I kept evading.

I glanced over at Harry. He wasn't paying attention to me. He was talking – shouting, actually, though for the life of me I couldn't make out the words – to Voldemort.

After the hardest punch yet to avoid, I finally snapped, "MAX!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING????"

She stopped for a moment and stared at me, like she was considering an answer. Just then Voldemort and Harry also stopped speaking and Voldemort looked over at Max. Then Max spoke, although the words seemed to be hard for her to say. "Fang, I don't….like…you……at…all….I…………was….just……using you. Now…I…." She paused and dipped her head. When she lifted it, there were tears in her eyes. "I…" she repeated. She dropped her head, and, so quietly that I almost missed it, said, "Stop me, Fang. Please." And with that, tears now streaming steadily down her face, she lunged at me again and threw a punch.

I dove at her and pinned her to the ground. She struggled slightly, but eventually subsided.

"Fang…" she said quietly.

"What _happened_?" I snapped, "One minute you're on my side, the next you're kicking my ass."

She shook terribly. I wondered what would happen if I let her go again. "It was the Imperio curse," she finally said.

"What? What the hell is the Imperio curse?"

"It's the mind control curse," Max explained, "It made me do whatever Voldemort wanted."

"Are you off of it now?"

She sighed and nodded, "Yeah, I think so. But if I try to hit you again, please don't take it personal. I don't mean it, I swear."

**Max POV**

A terrible silence filled the clearing right then as I looked up to see Voldemort staring right at Fang and I. My heartbeat sped up as he growled at the scene.

"You…" he said, "Girl. How could you break the curse?"

"I'm special, I guess," I sneered. The words probably would've had more effect if I wasn't pinned down by Fang.

He growled again, "I have your mother."

I took in a breath and my eyes widened. "Mom…?" I said quietly.

A terrible smile spread across his face as I swallowed (with much difficulty, might I add). "Yes. I see that makes you scared," Voldemort said.

"What…what are you going to do with her?" I asked.

"I'm not going to kill her, if that's what you're wondering," Voldemort snapped, "We need her."

"_Why?_" I snapped.

"A new race," he smiled devilishly, "A _better_ race."

"What kind of race?" it was Harry who spoke.

"Avian-wizards," he said quietly, "We'll take over the world. No more _humans_. No more _Mudbloods_. And definitely no more avian-human­ _freaks_. You are just the first in a long time to die, Max."

"NO!" I shouted. I flung Fang off of me, forgetting that Voldemort was a wizard and could fry me in an instant I jumped on top of him, shoving him over. He pushed me back with strength I didn't think he'd have, and pinned me. He pointed his wand at me and shouted, "CRUCIO!"

And that was when the pain exploded inside me…

LATER

My eyes fluttered open to see the all-too familiar scenery in the hospital wing. I sat up slowly and looked over at the other beds. Fang sat in a chair right beside my bed. The rest of the flock was crammed on one bed next to mine. Harry was in the bed to the left of mine, asleep.

I swallowed hard and nudged Fang awake. He stared at me for a second before a smile – a rare occurrence in his case – spread across his face. "Max," he said.

"Hey," I said, "What happened?"

"Harry rescued you," he said, "I wish I could say it was me, but Voldemort handed my ass to me on a golden platter."

I smiled sadly.

"Voldemort let up once Harry started doing some damage, and he disappeared into the woods," Fang explained, "I was out by then. Harry collapsed right after sending up a help flare. We were brought here…and have been here since. I woke up a week and a half ago."

I nodded before quietly saying, "How long…since…then?"

"Three weeks."

I took in a breath. "I think that's a record for me," I said. I shifted a bit, moaning as I did so.

"What happened? Are you OK?" Fang cried, saying all of this so fast that it sounded like 'whathappnderookay?'

"I'm fine," I said, "Just…my whole body feels stiff."

Fang sighed and looked around nervously, "Are you good enough that you can go for a walk?"

I gave him a curious look, "Yeah."

I crawled out of bed and we walked out of the hospital wing. "Here," Fang said after a long walk, "I found this while I walking around. I asked Harry. It's the Room of Requirement. It becomes just what you need."

He opened the door to reveal a room painted yellow with a brown sofa sitting beside a table with a bouquet of flowers on it. We stepped inside and Fang closed the door behind us. He took my hand (?????) and led me to the couch.

"Fang, I'm really confused," I told him.

"Don't be," he whispered, "Don't think." And with that, he wrapped his free hand around the back of my neck and touched his lips to mine.

**x X x X x X x**

**I would like to thank my fanclub, Erin, for helping me remember to get going! And everyone else better thank her, too, because if not for her, it would've taken me SOOO much longer to write this. Honestly.**

**Secondly, thank you for voting on that last chapter! I've made my decision, but you're just going to have to wait to find out what it is! **

**Thirdly, I apologize for screwing up **_**Goyle's**_** name. I said Doyle. Oops. I guess I've been watching ****Gilmore Girls**** too much or something.**

**Fourthly, **_**IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **_**Or at least it **_**was. **_**By the time I finished writing this, it stopped.**

**And fifthly, REVIEW. NOW.**

**-Love Like Winter, Baby-**

**-Alyson May Louise Parker Love You!-**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Maximum Ride do not belong to me.**

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter 17**

My mind melted in that instant and for a second I couldn't think, just as Fang had said. Then he pulled away from me and I closed my eyes.

"Max?" Fang asked.

I didn't say anything. Nothing seemed appropriate.

"What are you thinking?"

Again, nothing came out.

"Tell me," he said, "I need to know."

"Fang…" I said. I finally opened my eyes and looked into his eyes. He was searching my eyes. I wondered what he wanted to find exactly. "Fang," I repeated, "I don't think we should do this…now…" I muttered.

His eyes fell for a moment before he looked back to me, "Can I know why?"

I sighed and said, "Think of Iggy, Fang. We've abandoned him. We should've gone immediately after. But we stayed. He could be dead, Fang…" I was about to go on, but Fang held his hand to my mouth to stop me.

He sighed deeply before speaking, and when he did, he still didn't sound hurt or anything. He spoke in a way that tried to reassure me and him at the same time, "Max, I understand. But I need to know how you feel. Pretend none of this is going on. It's just you and me. How do _you_ feel?"

I sighed, unable to form a sentence. His face was still so close to mine; his hand was still on my neck.

"Max," he said quietly, "Do you love me?"

"I love all of the flock," I said. My voice sounded strange and robotic.

He laughed quietly, something I didn't expect, "So, when you're on Valium you love me the 'mostest' but otherwise you deny it?"

I smiled, "That's right."

I wondered if he noticed the shift in the mood, because I sure did. After a deep breath, Fang said, "Alright. Let me see if I can get you to change your mind." He leaned forward slightly and pressed his lips to mine. Instead of simply kissing me, he opened his mouth slightly and persisted, but not in a forcing way. It was an option. If I chose to keep my mouth shut, I'm betting he would take the hint and back off. But I could choose to open my mouth, too, telling him that I _did_ feel the same way he did.

He let go of my hand and brought it around my back, placing it on the small of my back. This small movement sent shivers all the way up my spine. My mouth opened.

A smile spread across Fang's face – although I couldn't _see_ it, of course; I just felt it – and he pulled off of me. "Do you still love me the same as the rest of the flock?" he asked.

My answer was to wrap both hands around Fang's neck and pull him to my lips for one more small kiss.

"I love you," I said quietly.

"I love you, too," Fang said.

The clock chimed four AM and I jumped slightly at the loud noise. I yawned, just now realizing how tired I was, though I'd apparently been asleep for the past three weeks.

"Sleep," Fang instructed.

"But….Iggy," I said quietly.

"Sh," Fang said, and it would've pissed me off if I weren't so happy at this moment, "We'll make a plan and go get Iggy in the morning. You need your rest."

"Mmmmmmm," was my last word before letting my head relax onto Fang's shoulder, where I fell asleep within seconds.

THE NEXT MORNING

I opened my eyes to see a flickering candlelight. The previous night's events came rushing back to me. I felt someone rubbing my arm gently and looked up to see Fang awake.

"Good morning," he smiled.

I smiled, too. "Morning."

We sat there in the quiet room for a moment before I sat up, gasping, and cried, "Oh, my God, Iggy!"

"Max, it'll be OK," Fang reassured me.

I nodded and stood. Fang looked up at me, and I wished I was like Angel and could read his mind, but, sadly, I couldn't.

I turned to leave, but Fang was still sitting on the couch. "Aren't you coming?" I said quietly.

He smiled, "You want me to?"

I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my cheeks, "Always."

We hurried to the hospital wing where the flock, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were just waking up. I quickly explained how we needed to go and no one could stop me and Fang inserted that he was going with me. I asked if anyone else was going.

"You can't stop me!" Nudge smiled, "And I'm glad you're awake again, Max. Fang was a total fart the entire time." I laughed and looked at Fang. He suddenly became very interested in the tiles on the floor.

Gazzy stood up, "I'm going, too!"

"We're all going, right?" Angel said.

"Where, exactly?" Hermione asked.

"The School," I said, "in Arizona." **((A/N: I can't remember exactly where the School is and Ashen Jade has my books, so if I'm wrong, SORRY.))**

Hermione, Harry, and Ron looked at each other.

"How would we get there?" Harry finally asked.

"Take a plane to New York City, then fly to Arizona," I explained, "Or, at least, that _was_ the plan. We can alter it if you guys are going, too."

"No, don't," Harry said, "We can fly."

"How?" I laughed, "Sorry, but I have a feeling that sprouting wings isn't that easy, even in the wizarding world."

"Brooms," Ron smiled.

"Alright, then," I smiled, "We've got a plan." We did our hand thing, (Hermione, Harry, and Ron watched and followed suit) and then went to go get breakfast.

**3rd Person POV**

"No, no, no!!!" Dumbledore shouted.

"But, Albus, is there anything we can do about it?" McGonagall asked, "After all, none of them are admitted to the school. We can forbid Potter, Weasley, and Granger from leaving, but it was inevitable that Max and her friends would leave eventually."

Dumbledore chuckled, but it was darkly, "Since when has forbidding Potter stopped him from doing anything? He'll leave even if we tell him that we'll expel him if he does. He loves Ride as a friend, if not more, and will go with her no matter what. Weasley will follow Potter. Granger is the only one we may have a chance of restricting."

"Then what do we _do_, Albus?" McGonagall asked.

Dumbledore took a moment to consider his options. Finally, he spoke, "I'll go with them. Not close enough for them to know I'm there. Just close enough for me to save them if something should go wrong."

"Just you, Albus?" McGonagall asked, concern barely visible in her voice but nonetheless there.

Dumbledore sighed before speaking, "Are you saying I am incapable of defending my students?" Although his statement sounded angry, that was not how he intended it.

But that's how Professor McGonagall took it, "No, Albus, that's not what I meant. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has become more powerful! I just – "

"It's all right, Minerva," Dumbledore said, "You're right, of course. Would you be willing to accompany me on this trip?"

"But who will look after the school?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "Again, Minerva, you are right. Look after the school in my absence. I'll find someone."

"When do we leave?"

It wasn't McGonagall who spoke. It was Fang, who was speaking to Max. Dumbledore had set up a hidden camera (the 'private people peeper' was what Dumbledore called it) to watch Max so they'd know any new plans right as Max set them.

"Day after tomorrow, at three AM," Max replied to Fang in the hidden camera, "We'll need to prepare."

"Alright," Fang said.

"We've got two days," Dumbledore said, more to himself than anyone else, "Let's hope all ends well."

McGonagall nodded and turned, starting down the stairs.

"And Minerva?" Dumbledore called McGonagall back to his office, "Please don't let any of the children know that we know."

"Of course, Albus," McGonagall said with a hint of a smile in her aged voice. She turned once more, but looked back when Dumbledore called her name again. "Yes, Albus?"

"Please…make sure they've access to all they need."

His tone was final, but McGonagall waited a moment longer to see if that really was all. After Dumbledore didn't speak for a while, she turned and continued down the stairs. Why, she wondered, did he sound sad when he said that? She shook her head. Dumbledore always had only the best interest in mind for his students, even when they didn't attend the school.

**x X x X x X x**

**Short author's note today. Courtney Rose, are you reading? Let me know if you are!**

**-Hey, Miss Murder, can I?-**

**-Alyson May Who is Fricking Rocking OUT-**


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or Harry Potter

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or Harry Potter. Or **_**Instant Star**_** Season One on DVD. Gr.**

**A/N: By the by, I screwed up last chapter. The School is in Death Valley, California. Haha guess I should've remembered that.**

**Also. I am NOT going to add the new skills that are featured in **_**The Final Warning: A Maximum Ride Novel**_**. I don't want to screw with those of you who have not read it yet. It's pretty good, I thought. Could've been better. And LONGER. **

**Anyone know if they're putting out a fifth book?**

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter 18**

Max POV

I gathered up our backpacks, which had been tossed under our beds a while ago. Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy were going to school today, but Fang and I were skipping, or you know, just not going since we weren't actually _enrolled _in Hogwarts. I raced down the stairs with Angel's, Nudge's, and my backpacks in hand. Fang was already at the bottom.

"Mine," he said, holding up a black backpack, "the Gasman's," a green one, "and Iggy's," he held up a blue backpack.

"Yeah. Iggy," I said quietly.

"He'll be fine, Max," Fang said, "And it's not like it's just the flock this time. We've got Harry and Hermione and Ron. With them, we'll do fine."

"Mmhmm," I said distractedly, then, "Um…I'm gonna go pack these up. See you in a minute." I jumped back up the stairs and into the room.

_Iggy,_ I thought, _we're going to come. We're leaving tonight. Or, tomorrow morning, I guess. You'll be okay. I promise._

I wiped tears from my eyes with the back of my hand and tried to move my mind away from Iggy. I grabbed every piece of clothing that was ours and tossed it into our backpacks.

"I got some food from the kitchen," I heard a voice say. I looked up to see Hermione.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" I asked.

"Yes, I probably should," Hermione smiled, "But I went to Transfiguration. All I skipped was Trelawney's class. It's pointless rubbish, anyway." She shook her head. Then she lifted her hand to show a small backpack. "I went down to the kitchen. The elves gave me enough food to last us several weeks."

"Um…Hermione? That backpack is smaller than _this _one. How did you fit that much food in there?"

"I put a spell on it," she said with a tone that made me think that I should've known this, "There's extra room, too."

I nodded, "Good. I need to hide these somewhere. You know a place?" I held up the three backpacks in my hand.

"Use this," Hermione reached into the bag and withdrew a cloak. I was about to ask, but she interrupted me, "Set the things inside here." Hermione opened the cloak and held it like a blanket. I dropped my three backpacks in there and Hermione dropped in her one backpack. Then she rolled them all up inside the cloak. Right before my eyes, the cloak disappeared. My mouth fell open.

"Dude," was all I could say.

Hermione smiled and set the cloak down inside the trunk beside her bed, "We can get these before we leave. In the mean time, we need to remain inconspicuous. So, are you coming to Potions with me?"

"I guess so," I said, "Beats sitting here waiting."

So were went on our merry way to what I knew was Hermione's second least favorite class of the day.

x X x X x X x

"Stir gently," Snape said, "I don't know how many times I need to tell you. If you stir too roughly, this concoction will explode and all skin that was touched will be splotchy and green for the rest of your life. For some of you, that will be an improvement." Snape quit pacing and looked at me when he said that. I glared at him but slowed my stirring so's not to have a green face.

"Miss Ride," Snape called, "Will you please come up here? I'd like a word."

"Will you take over?" I asked Hermione unnecessarily. She nodded absently.

I made my way over to Snape who stood beside his desk.

"Yes, Professor Snape?"

"You and your flock friends have been asked to do a very special assignment soon," Snape said sourly.

_Too bad we won't be here to do it,_ I thought sarcastically. Instead, I said, "Just me and the flock?"

"Potter, Weasley, and Granger as well," Snape amended, "You're going to need special supplies for this assignment. I've been asked to give them to you, against my better judgment."

"We need to take them now?" I asked surprised.

"Yes," Snape said, "As I said, against my better judgment. Regardless, Professor Dumbledore has asked me to give you some potions."

"What the heck am I supposed to do with these?" I asked.

_Ring, ring!!_

"There's the bell," Snape sneered to the entire class, "Don't forget to do your homework." Then he turned back to me and put on a sinister smile, "Good luck with your assignment, Miss Ride."

I walked from the room, meeting up with Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Fang outside.

"What'd Snape want?" Harry asked.

"He said we have a very special assignment to do soon," I said, "So he gave me some potions."

"What ones?" Hermione asked. I handed her the three small bottles and she read the labels out loud, "A Sleeping potion, a truth potion, a shrinking potion and…some other potion. That's strange. I wonder why he gave us this?"

"The teachers have been acting strange all day," Ron pointed out, "Like, today, McGonagall was teaching us how to transfigure dogs into useless things like a feather or quill."

"Weird," I agreed.

"That's the last class of our day, isn't it?" Fang asked.

"Yes," Hermione answered, "So now all we can do is wait."

x X x X x X x

Turns out I'm not too good at waiting.

I was going stir crazy by eight o' clock. Lunch and dinner helped to pass the time, but still. I wasn't the kind of person who likes to stay in one place for very long. I like _motion,_ people. I had to admit, Hogwarts was _much_ better than Anne's place, but I liked to be more in charge than I was.

I took a deep sigh, stood up, and looked around at Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fang, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. "I'm going to go fly around, you guys. See you later," I said. I walked to the window, yanked it up, and flew away into the blackness.

I was swooping around outside, enjoying the wind in my hair, when I saw a blonde figure looking up at me from below. I squinted to see, since I was too high up to see even with my excellent bird eyes. Malfoy. What was he looking at?

I rolled my eyes and was just about to fly away when I saw a piece of paper falling near my head.

No…not falling. _Flying_. It had wings. I snatched it out of the air and unrolled it.

"_Come down. I need to talk to you. This is important. –Malfoy"_

I scoffed as if he could hear me. I dropped ten or twenty feet so I could see him more clearly. "NO!" I shouted. He looked down and then raised his wand at me. _Oh, crap! _I thought, and zoomed away from where his wand would've hit me had I still been there.

But, instead, another note came up.

"_I promise you will not get hurt. I know things that you need to know. Not coming down could be a life-or-death situation. –Malfoy"_

I sighed and dropped a hundred more feet so that I was fifty or so feet away from Malfoy. "What?!" I shouted down at him.

"Come down!" he shouted back.

"I'm not a retard!" I yelled, "For all I know, Crabbe and Goyle are right there ready to kill me!"

"If I wanted to kill you, I could do that right now," he pointed out, "I won't resort to begging. It's not for _my_ benefit that I tell you this. But I'm telling you, you need to know this."

_To go or not to go, that is the question_, I thought.

"I'll leave if you don't want to know," Malfoy said.

Indecision! Why do you trouble me now!

Malfoy turned to leave.

And I did a dive-bomb, landing square on my feet in front of Malfoy. "What?" I sneered.

Malfoy sneered back at me. "Glad you could make it. Moving on," he said, ready to continue, "I know things. Things you need to know before you take off."

I tightened. He knew? No one was supposed to know! It was supposed to be top-secret! A silent exit! Oh, when I found out who told…well, let's just say they will get no chance to test the whole bird-kids-having-babies theory! "We're not going anywhere," I lied. And I've got to tell you, it sounded pretty dang good.

"Oh, please," Malfoy said, "Cut the crap. I know you're leaving! It's dead obvious!"

I narrowed my eyes, "Who." I phrased it as a statement to avoid him thinking this was optional.

"Who told me?" Malfoy asked. Then he scoffed, "No one! You and your freak friends are sneaking around the grounds, stealing food from the elves…" I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off too quickly… "I have connections. I know things. Bringing me back to my original point."

"Fine," I snapped, "What?"

"Be on guard at all times," he advised. _Duh!_ I felt like screaming at him. "Watch for any movement of the lips. Were you taught the three Unforgivable Curses?"

"Not only was I taught, but Voldypoo was kind enough to demonstrate each for me. Rather, he demonstrated each _on_ me." I glowered, remembering the day.

"Yes. That I know of, it's impossible to use these curses without speaking aloud, so your opponents will be trying to speak it as quietly as possible so that you do not hear them. If you see their lips moving, get the hell out of there are fast as possible. And thirdly…" Malfoy paused and looked at the ground. Uncertainty was clear on his pale face.

"Spit it out," I ordered, using my no-nonsense voice and my you-will-tell-me-now-or-I'll-kick-your-butt-all-the-way-to-New-York-City face.

"I have a map," Malfoy said, but I barely caught it because his voice was so low. He reached into his robes, tucking his wand away and withdrawing a scroll. He took several steps toward me and stopped two feet in front of me. "A map of the place where they're hiding."

"The School?" I asked, "I know that place like the back of my…"

He cut me off, "No. Not the School. They built a new facility. One that will hold up to duels. The Death Eaters like to practice a lot, you know." I got a terrible mental image of Iggy being the one they practiced on. "The walls are strong. You won't be able to break through them, even with bombs. There is a schedule of patrols of the building. You'll need to go to the building at exactly 1:25 AM. That's when there is a break in the schedule. Apparently they think no one will come in at that time. You have until 2 AM to get in. Do it _quietly_. Too much noise will alert them."

"Hey, Mr. Know it All? How the hell do we get in, if it's wand-proof?"

"I saw Snape give you the potions. Do you remember the lime green one?"

"Yes."

"Don't touch it. It's acidic enough to melt whatever it touches. Including…"

"Wand-proof walls," I finished.

"There you go."

There was a moment of silence between us. I knew I should say thanks, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not after he'd been such an ass for our entire stay at Hogwarts. So, in the place of my thanks, I noted, "It's getting dark. I need to go." And with that, I jumped into the air and flew away.

x X x X x X x

When I reached the dorms, Hermione was waiting beside the window. "Do you know how late it is?" she asked.

"Um…I don't know, Mom. Past curfew?"

I was shocked when Hermione responded, "Yes! We were supposed to be in our rooms half an hour ago! Where were you?"

"Oh. Um. I saw Malfoy outside, and he wanted to talk," I told her. Her eyes widened, so I went on, "He gave me a map and told me how to get into the School."

"How long did you talk?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," I said, "Fifteen minutes?"

"I just saw Malfoy in outside the Fat Lady. He was tormenting first-years," Hermione became white.

"How long ago…" my voice trailed off.

"Five or ten minutes ago."

"Which means…"

"It wasn't Malfoy that you talked to."

I closed my eyes. Stupid magic!

**x X x X x X x**

**Sorry it took so long for the update. I thought you guys had become too obsessed so I was trying to wean you off of this story.**

**Just kidding! Like I'm really that conceited that I think people are obsessed with my story? NOT!**

**Anyways, what really happened was that I was trying to get off of my Writer's Block. I couldn't write anything BUT fanfics. They really are unhealthy for you. For me, at least. Make me suck at writing anything BUT fanfics! But I decided to start again. A very snap decision.**

**PLEASE don't give me shit about not updating frequently enough! I can't take it! I had the WASL (The Washington State Assessment of Student Learning…in other words the state's way of **_**torturing**_** us.) today. It sucked ass, and my brain is about to explode and/or implode right about now. Leave nice things. Or leave rude things. Just don't leave comments about my lack of updating. In fact, I will reward all who review! You get faith, trust, and pixie dust! (Faith, trust, and pixie dust are nontransferable and may not be exchanged for a cash prize)**

**I have a life! I have a boyfriend! I have better things to do than sit at my computer and write stories!**

**Yet I do it anyways! : )**

**love always,**

**alyson may parker**


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimah: I don't own Max Ride or Harry Potty, yo

**Disclaimah: I don't own Max Ride or Harry Potty, yo.**

**When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy**

**Chapter 19**

Fang rushed into the room, shoving the door open. "We've got a problem," he said.

"Not another one," I groaned.

He gave me a strange what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about look, but I motioned for him to continue, so he did, "Filch saw you outside, Max. He told McGonagall and she's coming up now."

"Crap!" I cried.

"How did you get up here? I thought the stairs turned to a slide if a boy started to walk up them," Hermione said.

"They did. I flew." Fang replied.

But I hardly heard either of them. I took a deep breath and said, "Fang, get your ass out of here! Wait! Stop!" I said as he turned, "Where are Angel and Nudge?"

"In the Common Room," Fang said.

"Send them up. Tell them to change into their PJs and then crawl into bed. And tell Gazzy to get into bed, as well." He hopped-to. I would've smiled if I weren't so concentrated on concealing our leaving plan. I turned to Hermione, "Where did you hide the backpacks?" She pointed to the a spot beside the trunk, "Oh, right. You used the invisi-cloak, didn't you?" She replied an affirmative and I moved on, "Good. Shove them under the bed to make sure it's going to be impossible to find them." Hermione started doing this just as Nudge and Angel came up the stairs. I was about the relay a message to them, but Nudge spoke before I could.

"Professor McGonagall is in the Common Room," she said.

"What?! Why?"

My question was not answered. Instead, Nudge said, "She told us to go back to the Common Room with Hermione. She wanted to speak to Max alone."

I gulped. I didn't expect this. "O……kay," I said, when all my mind was screaming was _CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP!!_ Hermione followed Angel and Nudge out the door and I was left alone.

Seconds later, McGonagall appeared in the doorway. I swallowed again and sat on the bed that was closest to me. We just stared at each other for a moment and I was just about to realize what that look on her face was when she spoke.

"You weren't in class today," McGonagall noted.

"No, I wasn't," I replied, "I, uh, felt a little sick this afternoon."

"Really," McGonagall said. I nodded. From her face, I knew she didn't believe me. "Well, you seem perfectly well now: It's late and you're still up."

"Oh, right," I said, and I swallowed all the extra saliva in my throat. I was never nervous when I was lying. Why _now_ of all times?! "Um. I flew it off. Flying makes me feel better." Though the words were true, they sounded strange coming out of my mouth. Mechanical.

McGonagall sighed. I prepared myself for the lecture that I was sure was forthcoming. "Max, I understand you do not go to this school, so many, if not all, of the rules do not apply to you. Because of this, I can't come down too terribly hard on you." She paused. Each word seemed to be very difficult for her to say. Was she choking back tears or was that just my imagination? "However, I must ask you not to keep any of my students up late. They have class the following morning."

I was taken aback, not only by her words, but by her calmness. It made it much harder to be rude and harsh to her. "Who have I been keeping up late?"

"Malfoy." She replied too quickly.

I narrowed my eyes. Something was off here. She _knew_ who Malfoy really was. Now the only problem was finding out whether or not she planned to tell me.

"Malfoy," I said, frustrated now, "came out on his own accord. It was not my fault."

"I understand that," McGonagall repeated, only this time when she said it, I was a little ticked, "I am just trying to enunciate to you that the students need their rest and your talking to them will do nothing."

"How do you know that I even talked to a student?" I blurted.

The flash in her eyes told me that Hermione was right, that it wasn't Malfoy who talked to me. It also told me that it wasn't really a student, after all. I put on my I'm-gonna-win face. Because I was going to. Win, that is.

"Who was it, Professor McGonagall," I demanded.

McGonagall fell silent. I narrowed my eyes further, letting venom slip into my voice. "Did they lead us wrong?" I asked, "Will we be waiting outside their doors just so that they can capture us? I need to know, Professor McGonagall. This is crucial. Possibly life-threatening. If you know_ anything_, I need to know." I fought back the urge to cringe. I'd lowered myself to begging!

After a long silence, I leaned back (I'd leaned towards McGonagall in urgency and – I shuddered – as I pleaded) and sighed. I almost gave up hope when…

"You need not fear," Professor McGonagall said quietly.

"Why?" I asked flatly.

"It was no one of consequence. He gave you good directions. He will not lead you astray," McGonagall replied.

"But who was it?!" I snapped.

McGonagall glared into my eyes, and now I received her dose of venom. "Do you doubt me?" she retorted, "What reason do I have to lie to you?"

"What reason did the people who made me this way have for doing it?" I cried, "Because they could! Because they knew I couldn't stop them! That's exactly your reason! But I know better know, and I can just waltz in there at 2:04 AM. Maybe _that's _the time I needed. But you're telling me wrong…"

"I'm not."

"Who was it!"

"Snape."

For a second, I just stared at her. Then then I said the least intelligent thing possible: "Wah?"

She glared at me for a long second, then said, "It was Snape. Now. Good luck on your journey. Be smart. Think with your head _and_ your heart. Don't be fooled by any cheap tricks. These people will do everything they can to take advantage of you. I wish you the best of luck, Maximum." And with one final look, she walked away.

It was then that I finally recognized the look that had crossed her face. It was the same look Mom gave me whenever she worried for me.

I sighed, trying to push back the compassion I suddenly felt. I didn't need that when I was going to leave in less than five hours.

Suddenly, the bed I was sitting on depressed a little and I looked over to see Hermione sitting beside me. After a 360 degree glance around me, I discovered Nudge, Angel, and, yes, even Fang and Gazzy were in the girls' dorm room.

"What'd she want?" Hermione asked.

I sighed and gave a recap.

FOUR HOURS LATER (ROUGHLY)

My eyes opened and, looking at my watch, I saw that it was 3:57. In exactly 33 minutes, we would all be gone. My heart swelled with joy as I thought of finding Iggy again. I sat up, unable to sleep any more. The movement shook the opposite side of the bed and beside me a little blonde head popped up.

"I'm excited to get him back too, Max," Angel smiled.

I sighed happily. _I would pay a million dollars just to leave _right now_, _I thought. Ants were crawling in my pants. No, folks. Not literally.

"Max?"

It wasn't Angel who spoke, and I started a little as I heard Hermione's voice. She was lying down, but now that I looked, I could see the whites of her open eyes.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"What time is it?"

I checked my watch again, "3:59."

Angel tapped my shoulder, and I pivoted to look at her, "The boys are up, too. Gazzy is excited to go get Iggy. Harry is going over some last-minute things. Wait – oh. No, Ron's not up. Well…halfway."

"And Fang?"

"Anxious to leave."

"Well," I started, "if everyone's up, is there even a need to wait until 4:30?"

"Hm," Hermione said, "I guess not."

I smiled, "Hermione, pull out the bags. Angel, send thoughts to the boys telling them to get ready." Angel's face became concentrated. Hermione did as she was told, handing my backpack to me and strapping the food pack on her back.

"They're dressed already. Fang told them to go to sleep in their clothes," Angel said.

I sighed, wishing I'd thought of that. "OK. Then we just have to get dressed and then we're ready."

I was all tingling and excited as I changed out of my borrowed PJs and into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that read "Winging It" that I'd found at WalMart.

Ten minutes later, we all met outside by the lake. One by one, the flock took a running start and leaped. And, altogether, the wizards mounted their brooms and took off into the night.

I sighed when we were in the air. "We're coming for you, Iggy," I whispered. And I beamed as we flew toward the moon.

**x X x X x X x**

**OK, so here's the thing: the chapters left in this story are numbered. According to my objectives list, there should be five to six chapters left. That's just a rough estimate. Could be less, could be more. No promises.**

**Also. I am going to get to work on my two other continuing stories, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_** and **_**Whatever Happened to JJ?**_** after I finish up this story. I already have over half of chapter six of **_**Minutes to Midnight**_** written – Ashen Jade is the only person who has read it thus far.**

**I'm thinking about starting a ****Maximum Ride**** and ****Twilight**** crossover since this one was received so well. So tell me: yay or nay?**

**Finally, I hid the names of the three bands I am going to go see in September in one of the paragraphs of this chapter. First person to scout them out and tell them to me will get their name in a future chapter. Here are the ONLY hints I will give:**

**1. All three bands are listed in the same paragraph.**

**2. There are not two bands in one sentence or three bands in one sentence. To each its own.**

**3. The sentences are in consecutive order.**

_**HAVE FUN!!**_

**Kay, so I need to go. I'm off to Target to get the ****Juno**** soundtrack and ****Night**** by Elie Wiesel. It's hella sad, but I recommend it to any avid reader.**

– **Phuket, Thailand! –**

**Alyson May who watched Juno for the fifth time today.**


	20. Chapter 20

ADD DIANNE/DELILAH/GARNET TO THE STORYLINE

**Sorry for the long wait, people. I'm doing the best I can. I just had a monster case of writer's block and then just didn't really feel like checking it, but if it'll get you guys to review and make me happy, I'll do my best to do a mass update. Starting with this story.**

**Chapter 20 (for real)**

"ARGH!" I screamed.

"Max, calm down! It'll be fine!" Hermione soothed. I fought myself from rolling my eyes and shrugging off the hand she'd placed on my shoulder in an attempt to compose me. It'd do no good and hurt Hermione's feelings.

I wheeled to face Angel with pleading in my eyes, "Can't you do anything, Angel?"

"I can't change the weather in New York, Max," Angel replied regretfully.

"ARGH!" I repeated.

We were standing in an airport in London. Angel used her wonderful skills to get us eight coach tickets (not enough first-class tickets were left for all of us) to New York. And my plan would've worked perfectly. That is, it would've worked perfectly if Angel were a weather-changer in addition to being telepathic. Stupid scientists anyway! They had to make us freaks, why couldn't they just complete the package?!

As you can well imagine, I was way tense from being around so many people. I'd do just about anything to make the heavy rain and wind go away in New York, so I could board the plane and have it over with.

"Max."

Fang's calm, cool voice cut through all others around us. I swiveled to face him and examined his collected face. How could he be so calm in front of all these people?!

Fang nodded his hand to beckon me and I walked over to him. He led me through the mass amounts of people to a table on the very outside of the food court.

"It really will turn out perfectly fine," Fang said slowly.

I grunted in response and looked away from him.

"Max."

"What?!" I snapped, facing him again. But when I turned, I was shocked by the close proximity that my face was to his. Before I could protest or move, he kissed me gently. It wasn't a make-out kiss or even a forceful one. It was soft, but one of the most passionate kisses I'd ever received.

When he pulled away, he smiled slightly. "That was to shut you up," he said, "Will you listen now?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't find my brain.

"Angel can't do anything about the weather. She's six, Max. You're putting an awful amount of stress on everyone, and they're all kind of freaking out too. You know the rest of the flock hate being on a plane just as much as you do. And Harry, Ron and Hermione have never even _been_ on a plane. We all can't wait to get Iggy back. It's not just you," Fang took my hand and squeezed it.

"I know," I replied.

I know what you're thinking. Why is Max being to understanding? Fang just said about five things that would piss her off major! Why isn't she going sumo on his ass? Well, I guess I'm just calming as I age.

Or maybe I just regained use of my brain when he said the last few words. Whichever you choose.

Fang pulled me into a hug and we stood there for a long time. When we finally let go, he took my hand once more and together we walked back to the rest of the flock.

"Max! Guess what!" Nudge cried, and didn't wait for me to guess what but instead continued, "The plane's loading! We can go!"

I smiled wide, "Great! Let's go!"

x X x X x X x

We touched down in New York City, New York at 9 AM and were out on the streets by 10 PM. Sure, we got some befuddled looks from security guys because three of us were carrying broomsticks, but we didn't care too terribly much. In a few minutes, we'd never see them again.

After getting a safe distance from the airport, we all jumped in the air (or on our broomstick, depending on which race you were) and headed west.

"Why don't we just take another plane?" Ron asked after about a half hour.

"Because then we'd all have to go through the process of freaking out, being in a small space, and having to deal with people for five more hours," I responded.

"Why don't you just find a private plane, then?"

"Because none of us can fly one."

"Didn't it ever occur to you that you might need to know?"

"Well, when you have wings glued to your back, you don't have a large need for a pilot's license."

"Oh."

After that he was quiet for a long time, and I could finally enjoy my flight.

"Max?" Angel called, some three hours later, "Can we stop? I'm starved."

"Sure," I called back. I tipped my wings forward and began to decline.

"Where are we?" Harry asked when we'd all landed.

"Ummmm…My best guess is central or southern Kentucky. Not sure exactly," I replied. 

"We're in Horse Cave, Kentucky. Population 2,252. Home of the Bulls," Gazzy replied.

Whaaaaaat? "How did you know that?"

He pointed at a sign, "I put my brain to work."

I rolled my eyes at him and he smiled a devilish smile (followed by a foul smell in the air). "Let's go, guys," I said. I led the way through the small town, to a MacDonald's partway through town.

"Hi!" I smiled.

"Hello," the woman at the cash register—Trish—said in a bored tone, "What can I get for you?"

"I'd like twenty Big Mac meals, with a Coke in all meals, and then twenty apple pies," I finished looking at the board and looked back at Trish.

I never in my life would imagine that I could actually see a double-blink. But I did. When Trish finally came to her senses, she cleared her throat and said, "That's _a lot_ of food."

"I know."

"Will you be able to eat all of that food?" she asked.

"See, our family is doing some remodeling, so we were asked to go get food for the construction workers. Only eight of the meals are for us. The other twelve are for the workers and our parents," I explained. Then I smiled at how realistic my story sounded.

"You guys are siblings? You don't look anything alike," Trish said. She listened as Ron spoke, something about how strange the MacDonald's was, "And that one has a British accent! You don't have a British accent! What's with the British accent?"

I sighed. She had to go and make things difficult. I pointed to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, "Those three are my cousins from Britain. They're on break from school and came to visit for a few weeks," I pointed to the rest of us, "They're all my siblings. _Foster_ siblings. Only Melissa and Jacob are really related to my parents," I pointed to Angel and Gazzy, "The rest of us grew up in crappy situations and had to be moved with a family on the outskirts of town." I took a deep breath, getting annoyed, "We need to enlarge our house to include two new rooms for our family and the construction workers are hungry. It's in their contract that we feed them lunch every day. I don't want them to leave because the MacDonald's person wouldn't sell us our lunches. So, _please_."

Trish looked at me for a moment more, seemingly debating over whether or not to sell me my food. Then she pressed a few buttons and said, "That'll be 68.80. Can you afford that?"

"Mom gave me her credit card," I responded, whipping out the rarely used credit card I'd received.

"Maximum Ride?" Trish said, "That's your mom's name?"

"Now I'm going to have to explain Mom's name?" I sighed, "Fine! Mom was—"

"No, it's fine! I'll get your food," Trish said, then she walked away.

_Good,_ I thought, _Because I don't know how I would've explained that one._

One hour later—you know, it's _fast_ food!—we received eight bags and a lot of cruel looks from the staff behind the counter. I wouldn't have been surprised if they spit in a lot of our food. But it didn't matter. It was food.

We settled beside a tree in park in the next town over—Uno, pronounced You Know—and began to eat the massive amounts of food.

"You guys eat _a lot_," Hermione commented. I looked around at all of the flock. I was finishing up my second meal, Fang was tearing through his third, Gazzy was beginning his second, Nudge was just completing her first, and Angel was halfway through her second.

I beamed through a bite of Big Mac, "That what makes us us!"

"Oh, yes, it's not the wings. It's the large stomachs," Fang muttered through a mouthful of fries. I would've hit him if not for the Big Mac in my hands.

Just then, I heard voices coming from the right. I swiveled my head to see a girl with wavy brown hair and a young blonde boy beside her. The girl appeared to be a little younger than us, while the boy was probably seven or so.

"You shouldn't do that, Kyle," the girl scolded, "It's rude. We can handle ourselves. I've told you a thousand times before: stealing will get us into worse trouble than we can afford. They'll call our parents and we'll have to go home. Do you want to go home? Where Dad can scream at us and hit us and Mom can stand aside and do nothing?"

The boy's bottom lip quivered, "No."

"Then don't steal."

I looked at Fang and whispered, "They're like us."

He nodded.

"We should give them some of our food," I whispered.

He nodded.

Then the boy and girl walked in front of us and I called out, "Hey."

They both turned and stared at me. They were like two walking sticks. Their clothes, already two sizes too small, hung off of them like garbage sacks. They were so thin. Had we ever been like that? I couldn't remember.

"Want some food?" I held up a Big Mac.

"YAY!" Kyle screamed. He made to run to me, but the girl thrust out her arm.

"Kyle, _don't_," the girl snapped. Then she muttered to him, "They could be like those men in white coats. They seemed nice enough, too, didn't they?" Kyle nodded, "But they turned out to be bad. Didn't they?" Kyle nodded sadly. "We need to be careful. We can find our own food."

"But, Delilah!" Kyle whined.

"Kyle!"

"I'm hungry…" Kyle muttered.

I looked at Fang. What had been done to these kids?

"We're not bad."

I hadn't spoken, and I swiveled to look at Angel, who had edged closer and was now sitting right beside me. She looked at them with her innocent blue eyes wide. _Angel, do _not_ change their minds about this. They have a right to decide for themselves,_ I tried my best to make Angel hear me. She glanced at me, nodded once, and looked back at the girl and boy.

"That's what the lab-coat guys said," the girl sneered, "We're not stupid. We know better than to trust everyone." Her face hardened even more. "I have to do what I can to protect my family."

Whoa. Was that me talking in there? It sure sounded like me.

"And letting him die of hunger is _protecting _him?" I said. The girl's jaw set. Had I struck a nerve? "Look, I love my family more than my own life, and I understand why you're so cautious about accepting food. I don't know if it's your pride or your fear, but I promise you that we will not hurt you. There are not white-coats hiding behind the bushes waiting to take you away. We have no walkie-talkies to communicate with anyone. We're just trying our best to survive in a crappy situation. Just like you."

The girl looked at me. Her green eyes bore into mine. Finally, after what seemed like ages, she spoke, "Fine. But only if it'll make you feel better." She took Kyle's hand and together they walked forward. I handed them each two bags, causing the girl to give me a suspicious look.

"If you don't finish it now, you'll be hungry later," I explained.

They sat a good distance from us and ate. When we'd finished, I turned to the group, "We leaving now or later?"

"We can't go now. People will see," Hermione said, "We should wait until night."

I sighed. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. "Okay. Take a rest. We're going to be flying all night and into the morning," I replied.

Fang, Gazzy, Angel and Nudge climbed into the tree and settled onto the branches. I decided to stay on the ground with Ron, Harry, and Hermione. But in a hour, after everyone else was asleep and I wasn't, I heard a rustle coming from a short distance away.

My eyes snapped open and I sat up, instantly alert. But, instead of seeing an Eraser or white-coat, it was the girl from before. She stood behind Kyle, with her hands on his shoulders protectively. "Mind if we take a rest here, too?"

"No, no problem," I responded.

"Kyle, go lie down," the girl ordered, "I need to have a talk with…"

"Max," I said. Why didn't I lie, you ask? Hell, I don't know.

"I need to have a talk with Max. I'll be right back," the girl responded.

Kyle looked startled, like he thought we would hurt him, but he was so sleepy that he collapsed beside Ron and fell right asleep. I stood and walked with the girl for a while before she stopped.

"You know them, too, don't you?" she asked.

"Who?" Playing dumb seemed appropriate here.

"The guys in the white lab coats. You know who they are. I can tell, by the look in your eyes when I mention them. You do, don't you?"

I sighed. "Yes, I do. More than I want to."

"Me, too," the girl said, "We're lucky we escaped before it got too bad."

"Huh?"

"We were in New York when the entire place went nuts. Someone managed to let us out, and I went off with a group of other kids. We…we were kind of like a family, like you guys. But, well, none of us were born too healthy, of course, so we slowly died. It's just me and Kyle left. We…well…we have…," she stopped, then slowly I saw two giant auburn wings lift from her back, "We have wings."

I glanced left and right to make sure no one was around. Then slowly I extended my own pair of tan wings. She gasped. I don't know whether it was because I was like her or because my wingspan was four feet larger, but she stared with shock.

Then she did something completely unexpected. She smiled.

"You are like me," she said.

I couldn't help but beam, too. "Yeah. I guess so."

"I'm Delilah."

**x X x X x X x**

**Yeah, yeah, go ahead and tell me I'm evil for stopping here, but as is I have eight word pages going at a size 12 font. So I kind of sort of need to stop here. Anyways, moving on.**

**Summer is in full-swing! Whooooo! I'm doing nothing!! Whooooo!!**

**This longer chapter is your Fourth of July special! At least I hope it's longer because I don't know how much it'll equate when I put it on FanFiction. If you don't celebrate the Fourth of July, then it's just the chapter that was written on the fourth of July.**

**Furthermore, Delilah was the winner of the find-a-band contest. The bands were Cheap Trick, Journey, and Heart. And looook! She got her name in here!**

**Thanks to Garnet Daggers, maximumcapacity, jayce, ilovesheri!, and ujlee for commenting my blog! Remember people, if you don't comment, you can't get thanked.**

**Oh? You didn't know I had a blog? Why, thanks for asking, peeps! You can find it here:**

**www (dot) onecoolnerd (dot) blogspot (dot) com**

**Except take out the (dots)'s and put in .'s. Or, you can always email me at:**

**onecoolnerd (at) gmail (dot) com.**

**Kay, man. I promise. No more long author's notes. ((haha yeah right!))**

**3**

**-Live, Love, Laugh, and Listen to Tons of Music like Imogen Heap and Tokio Hotel-**

**-Alyson May Louise Parker who would love it if you read her blog-**


	21. Author's Note

I sincerely apologize to all readers who thought this was an update, but I have an excuse – albeit a lame one – and a plan for you.

I left you all off in my story "When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy," and I'm sure you all remember exactly what is happening and exactly what _should_ happen next. Problem is, I don't. So much stuff has happened in my life that I just abandoned this story. I had no plans on finishing it until…yesterday.

What happened was that I got into a new story: "Kryptonite, Thy Name Is Wolf." by BeautyXBlessedGuard (To all you looking for a great new story, I recommend this one.) This story reminded me of another I read a long time ago, but had forgotten the details: "Kind of Since Forever" by liten-kiddo. (I also recommend this one. Maybe if we review her story enough, she'll update!) liten-kiddo has not updated her story since last fall. And I really want to know what happens next.

Is that what you guys are going through? I don't want to be a stuck up bitch who thinks everyone looooves her story, but from the reviews I've been getting, I think I'm on the right page.

Okay. So here's my plan. Over the next week or so, I'm going to reread my own story. A while ago, I outlined how this thing would end. I'm going to find that outline and figure out where this was going. Hopefully I can piece it together enough to write a good Chapter 21. I will also be deleting the other author's note, which, I admit, was a shameless attempt to get you to check out my blog.

Which you can still view at www (dot) onecoolnerd (dot) blogspot (dot) com. Sorry. Another shameless attempt.

So. I am now going to go watch a movie with my brother. I hope to get to my plan today, but I am sick and feel like shcrap so if I don't, sue me. I hope to have another chapter up within the next week.

**YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REVIEW THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE.**


	22. Chapter 22

Then a meteor killed them all.


End file.
